Shadows of the Past
by TedIsMyHero
Summary: First installment of the Deception Trilogy. Samus returns from her second Zebes mission only to find out that it wasn't truly destroyed. She goes back to finish the job.
1. Prologue

METROID: SHADOWS OF THE PAST

PROLOGUE

Hunter Log 3836  
The explosion was so bright as I left the doomed Zebes for the second time...

The creatures I encountered and the things I experienced back on that planet are something that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

I am thankful, however, for the few kind lifeforms that I did meet. In my haste to escape from Tourian, I heard a high pitched noise over the dull rumble of the collapsing planet. I faintly recognized the sound, and I rushed to check it out, fully knowing the possible consequences of my curiosity. As I entered the chamber, three small green creatures and an ostrich-like bird rushed to me and seemed to be pleading for an escape through a wall.

With all but my last ounce of energy, I pointed my hyper beam at the wall and blasted through. The creatures rushed through quickly and disappeared into the darkness and dust inside the narrow tunnel.

I quickly rushed back to the surface where, despite the cataclysm about to take place, the acid rain continued to fall. The chemical composition of the rain made my ship incredibly slippery, and I could not keep a grip on the rungs that would allow me to enter my ship. I crouched down and leaped toward the top. Even the enhanced abilities of my suit could not stop the basic physics of slippery metal on slippery metal as I immediately lost footing, landing on the top hatch of my ship. When I regained composition, I realized that I lost my footing not because of the acid film on my ship, but because the ship was actually beginning to tilt...as well as the planet itself!

I quickly brought myself around and opened the hatch, entering my ship. It immediately responded, detecting my suit inside and began to initiate the take-off sequence.

Even as I was lifting off, bright lights mixed with plasma and flame alike began to shoot out through cracks in the Crateria...but now...silence.

Ceres Station has been destroyed, and my target on Zebes has been eliminated. Now what? Back to the combine.  
End Log   
Samus inputted the coordinates of the Bounty Hunter Combine and relaxed in her seat. It had been a VERY long day. As she disengaged her helmet, the compressed air hissed, leaking out into the artificial atmosphere of her ship. With a flip of her wrist, she released the gun attachment on her arm. She placed it in a compartment to her left and sighed. She reached up behind her head with both hands and let her hair down. The golden locks fell around her as she laid her head back and closed her eyes.

"Ship." 

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Prepare for cryo-sleep sequence."

"Preparing... Cryo-sleep sequence ready for initiation on your command."

"Initiate cryo-sleep."

"Initiating..."

Samus felt a cooling sensation around her, then everything went dark. 

"Good night, ma'am."

+ 

The ship AI was very advanced. It was purchased after only a few missions after Samus got her ship. Due to constant modifications, ship AI's were very expensive to most everyone...except for bounty hunters. Samus is an up-and-coming bounty hunter, swiftly climbing the ranks of the Confederation's bounty hunter list. Many of the higher-ups ignored her, but those hunters that were closer to her rank saw her as a legitimate threat. When a bounty hunter is threatened, he (more often than she) becomes very dangerous, especially to the direct threat. Samus knew this...but she always welcomes a challenge.

Out of the darkness, a faint light emerges...after a time, it grows brighter. The illumination begins to move slowly, but erratically in random circular patterns. While growing in intensity, it also grows in size. After a few more moments, the ghost-like flame begins to take shape.

"What is that..."

A pair of spindly legs drops down from the main light, accompanied by twin branches reaching to each side. In seconds, the ghastly image is clear...

"A Chozo?"

The Chozo ghost seemingly acknowledges and begins to speak in its native tongue. 

"I...don't understand..." Samus said, confused. 

The once white apparition shifted to a red hue and increased in magnitude. A thunderous, threatening tone was taken by the figure...then shrunk down and disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.

"Approaching Bounty Hunter Combine...Good Morning, Samus."

"Wha...so strange..."

Samus awoke and sat bewildered in her chair for several minutes as the docking procedure completed. The hatch above her head opened as intense brightness filled the interior of her ship. She looked up and a figure interfered with the bright white light.

"Welcome back, Samus! You're needed immediately in the conference room. Oh, and dress appropriately, ma'am, the President of the Confederation is here today.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE...

Hunter Log 3837  
What kind of setup is this? First, they send me packing, laughing behind my back, now this? They know that I hate formal affairs. I'm a bounty hunter,  
not a space marine. I don't have dress whites, nor do I care to. I have very little as far as formal attire…very little use. What good would a dress do in combat? Absolutely none whatsoever. I was not born into the Confederation, therefore the President is not my commander-in-chief. I answer to no one but the one who pays me, and the pay for this past one better be massive like my unknown benefactor had promised…

I give them two hours max, then I'm away again.

Samus out...

Samus' vessel left very little room to change…and her attire, very little to the imagination. Samus only owned one dressy piece of clothing…and it was a  
knockout. As she emerged from the craft, the soldiers could only stare. The blonde locks that encased the face featuring the voluptuous red lips. The locks led to an athletic upper frame: defined trapezius muscles  
that sloped at easy 25 degree angles, broad, but still feminine shoulders, supporting spaghetti thin straps of a slinky red dress, which happened to show off her "twins", as the other hunters referred to them in their drunken slurs. The scarlet encasement ended halfway down her thighs, which were the epitome of definition. The lights of the hangar shimmered across the muscle curvature of her quadriceps. Her feet were adorned by matching stiletto-heeled shoes.

If she was going in, she was going to make jaws drop.

The only sound heard as Samus entered the facility was the clicking of her heels against the composite metal floors. clipclopclipclopclipclop 

Once inside the first door, a marine in his dress whites firmly saluted Samus, but his eyes showed nervous admiration of many different varieties.

"Please, madam hunter, follow me." 

"Lead on, soldier," Samus replied with an eyebrow cocked at the young marine.

They walked side by side down a maze of corridors until they reached a compressed door adorned in red, white, and gold.

"Madam hunter, you're solo from here on," blurted the marine.

"Thank you, kind soldier, but that's the way I prefer to work," Samus said, patting the young man on the shoulder.

The marine saluted as Samus entered the room. Inside were five men standing in front of a panoramic window. They all turned to greet their visitor, but the visages of the men showed their surprise at their new guest. 

"Samus?...Samus Aran?" asked a man in highly decorated marine dress whites.

He extended his hand.

"Yes sir, Commander," she said, returning the friendly gesture.

The commander, visibly shaken and surprised at Samus' unusually firm grip, straightened his posture and adjusted his collar.

"Samus, this is President James Marucusson of the Confederation." the commander said, stepping aside to make way for the President.

The President extended his hand toward Samus.

"I'm already familiar with him. He's on eighty percent of the public transmissions, and honestly, the reason I turn them off," Samus replied with tact, simply staring at the President's hand.

Clearing his throat, the President uttered, "Ahem! So you are Samus Aran?" 

"Yes, Mr. President." she said, finally looking him in the eye.

"From the descriptions of your accomplishments, I was expecting a more…"

"Masculine?" Samus interjected.

Stuttering, the president acknowledged the comment.

"Ah…well, yes. I was expecting a man to be the hero of Zebes...but I guess that isn't the case."

"Well, evidently my benefactor knew what he was ordering when he ordered me to retrieve the baby Metroid," sarcasm boiled from Samus' lips. 

"Well, in a way, yes," the president replied.

"What do you mean by that, President?" asked Samus with an edge in her tone.

"Well, our intelligence 'did' point to an attack on Ceres Station by Space Pirates…" said the president matter-of-factly.

"So you knew…" Samus trailed off in disbelief.

"Yes, Samus. We knew."

"And you let all of those people die…" she said, squinting her eyes at the president.

"They were...acceptable losses." said the president firmly.

"Death by treachery is not acceptable, Mr. President. You should have learned that in your military days." Samus replied, inspiring conviction.

"Ms. Aran, I learned quickly the difference between acceptable losses and unplanned casualties of war. There is a difference." said the president with an emotionless tone.

"THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!" exclaimed Samus, allowing her emotions to pounce forward at the commander-in-chief.

The president recoiled, as well as the other men in the room. After a moment, she realized what she had done and she quickly sobered from her anger. After a long pause, the President broke the piercing silence.

"I guess you want your pay for your mission on Zebes."

"As soon as I meet my benefactor..." Samus replied calmly.

"I am your benefactor, Ms. Aran." said the president.

"What?" Samus replied with a look of disbelief.

"My staff submitted a list to me of bounty hunters, and I chose you at random. Needless to say, you've done a fine job. For your pay, I will provide you with a new ship, and an updated AI..."

"Mine works just fine, thanks. Money will do." Samus said with resentment.

"I...suppose that can be arranged...I..." the president said, caught off guard by her lack of gratitude. 

"Then put it in my account. If you have my file, then you know where the money goes. Goodbye, 'gentlemen'." Samus said as she nodded to the men, then left the room in silence.

She proceeded with an added tempo in her step. As she neared the docking bay, she had already removed her earrings furiously, as well as those annoying high heels. She'd rather go barefoot than wear those torture devices.

Samus finally rounded the last corner to the docking bay when she ran right into another bounty hunter.

In a growling voice he said, "Uggggh...Samus Aran...so you're back? And in quite...good shape, as well."

"Shut up, Shigger." said Samus, staring at the beast's torso. 

"Oooh...don't be so mean. You know we all...heh...respect you." Shigger said, shuddering.

"What do you want. Tell me, beast, or I'll move you myself," she replied, still staring forward.

"I...wanted nothing but to...congratulate you...but I wonder...did you find anything on the ship?" Shigger inquired.

"The wrecked ship? CV-10962? On Zebes?" asked Samus, still staring. 

"Yyyyesss...that's the one...did you find anything?" 

"Nothing of interest to you. Now move, I have places to be," Samus said, shooting a look into Shigger's eyes.

"Tell me, woman...what did you find," probed the giant.

"Stale air, that's about it. Okay. I'll be leaving." Samus said as she tried to push past the seven and a half foot giant, but he grabbed her shoulder.

A bad move on his part... Samus reached behind her head and grabbed his wrist, and in one swift motion, twisted Shigger's hand completely around. He cried out in agony as his grip on Samus was released. She continued toward the docking bay.

Before she reached the door, Shigger had regained his composition and rushed at her, dull thud by dull thud...his feet trudged on the floor. As he neared Samus, she squatted and performed a back layout over the head of the behemoth...and planted the heel of her left shoe right into the axis bone of Shigger's spine. The beast went limp in the air and his momentum carried him into the docking bay doors, smashing them in.

Samus shook her head and pulled her hair back, gathering it with a rubber band and a hairpin. She continued to the door where the massive body lay limp and gurgling. His still alert eyes tracked her as she stepped over his motionless legs and into the docking bay. 

Once again, the guards could do nothing but stare...except for one, who approached Shigger and removed the stiletto from his spine.

"Ma'am, you forgot this..." the guard said, running toward Samus with her shoe.

"I don't need it, soldier. As a matter of fact, you can keep this one with it to make a pair," she said as she tossed the other shoe over her shoulder without giving a glance and hopped on top of her ship.

"Finally," she thought. She couldn't wait to fly away in that precious solitude she continuously sought. Samus found peace in silence. There's no one to order her around, no one to belittle her. Ever since the movement nearly five hundred years ago, women had, once again, become an object of persecution and degradation.

"Ship, let's get out of this hellhole."

"Yes, ma'am. Destination?"

"Anywhere but here..." 

"Random vector being plotted...proceeding." 

As the ship hastily left the station, the comm link began to pulse.

"Samus."

"Ms. Aran, this is the President."

"What now?"

"I would like to apologize for my earlier behavior. Your money has been transferred and it includes a bonus for your trouble."

"Good, that's what I expected. Is that all you contacted me about?" 

"Actually, no. I have another job for you. In this mission, money is no object."

"President Marcusson, is this another ploy just to get rid of me, or is this a bonafide mission?"

"It is 100 percent genuine, Ms. Aran."

"Ok, tell me what I need to know."

"I'm sending you the coordinates you need. You will rendezvous with hunter #298 there." 

"Understood."

After closing the comm link, Samus sat back in her chair once again with an exaggerated sigh. 

"Back to work..."

Samus quickly slipped out of her dress and into her protective undersuit. Piece by piece, she assembled her suit. Boots, leg guards, thoracic and torso plates, chest protector and shoulder pads, then arm protectors...the blaster would be saved until last.

"Ship, how long until we reach the appointed destination?"

"At our current rate...10 minutes."

"Ten minutes?" 

"I do not lie, Samus."

"That is awfully close for a dire mission..."

"Destination in sight."

Samus peered out her front port to see an asteroid base. She knew from her graduate studies at the university about this particular station. It was Asteroid Orpheus. A station suddenly abandoned 50 years ago due to an unknown epidemic that swept through its decks. Eventually all of the crew, even those who escaped, died from the unidentified virus. All that is known about the virus is that after infection and initiation of disease, the capsids and viral DNA disappeared. Some of the scientists had actually seen this process under one of the lab supermicroscopes. They had been so fortunate to actually get a working sample, but had had the tragedy enough to see it vanish in front of their eyes.

She donned her visor helmet and arm cannon as her ship slowed to dock with the asteroid. The hatch opened and she climbed into the base. At the other end of the corridor, she saw a figure approaching her. 

"Identify yourself."

"Hunter #298, Paul Silverwolf" the figure replied.

"Silverwolf?" Samus replied.

"A new hunter. I was recently transferred to this sector to perform a task for the President," the man explained.

"I, too, was sent here by the President." 

"How convenient. That makes my job easier," the hunter barked.

"What exactly is your job?" asked Samus.

Without another word, the other armor clad hunter launched a grappling beam at Samus. She tried to jump out of the way, but the beam connected with her arm cannon. Before long, she was flung through the air by her arm. The beam disengaged and she crashed up against a blast window with a dull cracking sound. She hopped up and tried to respond with a plasma shot, but all her cannon did was sizzle. She looked to examine it and found that the grappling beam fried her extra beam capacity. She was only left with standard blaster shots, her ice, wave, and plasma beams had been disabled. This was definitely a problem. When she looked up, she saw a rocket heading directly toward her.

She desperately jumped to the side and dodged the rocket, but the window was not so fortunate. A silent explosion gave way to the vacuum of space. A screeching sound was heard from beyond the corner. Samus skidded toward the busted window, and as she did, she saw Silverwolf skidding on the floor, as well as his fingers skidding along the wall, digging into the steel plating. As quick assessment showed that Samus still had control of HER grappling beam.

She aimed at Silverwolf and fired. The beam struck him directly in the torso. After a quick look down, Silverwolf shot a desperate look at Samus.

"If I'm going down, you're going with me!"

Suddenly a powerful pull yanked Samus from her feet and she went flying out the window into the vastness of space. Upon the immensely strong tug, Silverwolf also lost his grip and hurtled toward the window. Before he could fly out, he launched his grappling beam and connected with the edge of the corridor by Samus' ship. The sudden stop almost ripped both Samus' and Silverwolf's arms from their sockets. They floated helplessly in space by their beams, which would eventually deplete their cells with constant use like this. Samus, already being in space, knew that she was no longer in the current pulling objects from the base. She gathered her strength and yanked on her beam as hard as she could. She flew past Silverwolf and traded glances with him as she did. The fear in his eyes was indescribable, a tell-tale sign of a rookie. As she flew past him, her beam crossed his beam.

A side effect of crossed grappling beams is a result called "beam redisbursal". The beams cross paths and switch grappling points. After the cross, Samus was connected to the corridor and Silverwolf flew out the window...connected to himself. Samus retracted her beam until she reached the corridor and entered her ship.

"Nothing but a backstab. NOTHING BUT A BACKSTAB!" Samus repeated to herself. She reached for the comm link button to recall the last message. It buzzed for a moment, then a voice answered.

"This is Marcusson."

"You bastard...you set me up..." 

"No, Samus, I did not set you up." 

"Then explain yourself, or you'll suffer the same fate as that hunter..."

"Samus, there was been a rebellion of a faction of hunters."

"A hunter rebellion?"

"Yes, a rebellion. A division of hunters from the Sigma Quadrant disagree with a woman being in the elite ranks of the hunters."

"They don't want me here, then. And they're willing to rebel over that..." 

"Yes, evidently they are. We think there is more behind this, however. We have sources that tell us that they were on Zebes at the same time you were."

"On Zebes? You've got to be kidding."

"No, Ms. Aran, and we believe they tried to...salvage anything they could find."

"You don't think..."

"I believe that they are in league with the Space Pirates." 

"...allegiance to the highest bidder...I wonder..." 

"Samus, you must return to Zebes." 

"Return? Wasn't it vaporized?"

"No, Samus. The self-destruct sequence was meant to blast the planet into sections that would allow reconstruction after a cataclysm." 

"They're going to rebuild..."

"It is time, Ms. Aran. You will encounter a shipbuilding station on the way. Please, stop there and upgrade your weaponry and your ship. You'll need it."

"Understood, Samus out... Ship...time to return to familiar territory..."

"Already plotted, ma'am. Setting out."


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2: THE BETRAYAL

Hunter Log 3838  
Usually when a planet goes up in a massive flash of blinding light, there isn't anything left. Evidently not the case with Zebes. One hunter can only do so much to get rid of an entire planet...I've done that...twice...

Seriously, this is ridiculous. I did notice, however, that there were what seemed to be plates that separated many areas of the planet. How they got there, I have no idea, but if the Space Pirates can rebuild a planet, it's definitely worth looking into.

I've got to stop at Alpha Outpost to get some upgrades for my ship. I'm thinking about a memory upgrade for my current AI. I want it to interact more. I guess to make it more human...if that's possible. I also need to get some auto guns installed on the underside, just in case I need dust-off support. A compact lightspeed drive wouldn't hurt. All the hurry in less than half the time...hmm...catchy. I might mention that to the dealer...what am I thinking?

I guess all of the tension is getting to me. A rebel group of hunters working for the Space Pirates. That just doesn't make sense. No hunter has ever fraternized with Pirates, well, not until now. I wonder what those scum have promised the hunters. Maybe they think that since I took them down twice with no assistance that all hunters are like me. Fighting fire with fire. No matter. It will end this time.

Samus out...

The ship slowed as the change in momentum leaned Samus forward in her seat. A large station loomed above the ship. A large double door directly above the ship began to slide open and a tractor beam raised it into the vertical hangar.

waaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAH 

"What's that noise?"

THUD! 

"What the..." 

"Sorry Ms. Aran! I lost control of my propulsion...he he! What can I do ya for?" 

"Grady... sigh ...you never learn, do you? I need to get four 20 inch autoguns on the bottom, a compact warp drive, and my AI needs a memory upgrade. Oh yeah, and give me a good wash." 

"Uh, Ms. Aran, your AI already has the maximum recommended amount of memory."

"I'm aware of that, Grady. Do it anyway."

"Y-yes ma'am." 

This was one of Samus' favorite times. Out of the old and into the new. She knew she needed the upgrades, especially after what happened on Zebes. Closer inspection revealed that the acid rain and plasma flumes that were on Zebes really caused wear and tear on her ship. While she was waiting on the repairs, she could plan her method of attack.

If they plan to rebuild the planet, then the area will be buzzing with both hunter and pirate activity. She would need a way to infiltrate the area and sneak aboard one of the planet fragments. If only there was a way.

Samus left the lounge and made her way back to the hangar.

"Grady?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"You don't happen to have any cloaking equipment around, do you?"

"Well...I really don't have any for use..."

"But you have something?"

"Yes, ma'am. I do, but it's nothing spectacular. We use it for our patrol probes. They're small, and they stay cloaked, but I'm not sure what kind of effect it'll have on a vessel the size of yours. The effect wouldn't last long, that's for sure."

"Would I be able to buy one?"

"I could just throw one in with the compact warp drive, ma'am. Those cost enough as it is."

"Thank you, Grady." 

"Ma'am."

Samus smiled to herself. Sometimes, some places, chivalry wasn't dead. This was one place. She reentered the lounge and decided to partake in a drink. She took a glance down the bar. Mostly interspace freighter pilots and workers, as well as a few AWOL patrol marines. It definitely was a motley crew, and she wanted nothing to do with them, so she seated herself near a window in the corner of the bar.

Even in her unflattering suit, she still drew scanning eyes as well as undressing ones, which were remedied quickly by a fiery flash of her eyes. After a few moments of unrecognizable grumbles, a marine got up from the bar and approached her. He was obviously trying to win some kind of bet, because he kept looking back at his anxious colleagues while nodding and laughing.

"Can I help you?"

/"Yeah, yeah. My friends and I...had a bit of a...well...a wager...yeah, a wager."

"Let me guess, it concerns me?" 

/"Yyyyyeahitdoes. They bet me 50,000 credits that I could make you moan my name. Now how much effort is this going to take me?"

"My estimate is quite a bit." 

/"Alright now, I don't need any guff from you, just do it."

The obviously drunken marine grabbed onto Samus' arm.

"It would be great if you would let go." 

/"And what will you do if I don't?"

Samus grabs his hand and begins crushing his carpal and metacarpal bones. She stands up and begins walking him towards his friends, who are nervous wrecks of laughter mixed with fear.

"I am no object of lust, and I absolutely do not tolerate this foolishness. If I had my way, I'd save everyone except for scum like yourselves...you call yourselves soldiers..."

With his crushed hand still in her clutches, the marine begins to plea in the form of broken whimpers.

/"P-please...let go...p-lease..."

"Say my name."

/"I...I d-don't know your n-name..." 

"My name is Samus Aran. Now SAY IT." 

/"S-s-samus...A-aran..augh! Samus Aran!"

She releases his arm and smirks at the other marines.

"How much do 'I' get for making him say 'my' name?"

The men rush to the aid of their fallen colleague as Samus turns to walk to the hangar.

"So much for relaxation," she thought. After this mission, she's definitely taking personal leave from the Combine.

She opens the hangar doors and finds herself face to face with Grady.

"Uh, heh. Your...err...ship is ready, ma'am."

"Thank you, Grady, I..."

A massive rumble shook the station and all of the lights cut off. 

"W-w-what's going on, Ms. Aran!"

"I don't know, Grady, but open the hangar doors!"

Samus leapt to her ship and jumped inside. The claw holding her ship disengaged, as well as the air lock on the hangar. She began floating toward the opening. Control systems online. Power is a go. Weapons system, check. Navigation, check. Engines...offline.

"What's going on? Come on!"

The ship drifted out of the hangar into the openness of space and began to list to the right...no, the station was beginning to list to the left! The rotation of the station brought the damage into view; one fourth of the top of the station had been melted to scrap! On the other side of the station, a ship came into view. It must have been more than 20 times the size of Samus' ship. She finally engaged the engines and distanced herself from the doomed station. Samus opened the comm link with the station. 

"Yes ma'am? We're falling apart here!" 

"Grady, get to an escape vessel and get out of there! Believe it or not, that first blast was a warning shot! That is a hunter's ship!"

"Right, as soon as I can!" 

Just as Samus closed the comm link, she saw a flash on the underbelly of the ship. The light began to grow and flicker.

"Oh, no..."

A shot of white hot plasma erupted from the ship and engulfed the rest of the station. Slowly, the constant stream of plasma began to melt away the station. On the underside, an escape pod ejected and began to make its way into space with its small thrusters...but it was not fast enough... The beam ate through the installation like acid through Styrofoam and devoured the escape pod. In the aftermath, only small globules of molten steel floated in space.

"Why...why here? Why now? Are they searching for me?"

Samus thought to herself for a moment before noticing the ship turning around. After the turn, it began to engage its hyperdrive system.

"Ship, lock onto that battleship and engage hyperdrive to follow it."

"Understood, Ms. Aran. You may call me by my first name, now. Grady." 

"Grady...heh...what a friend...Grady, do whatever it takes to follow that ship."

"Right."

It didn't matter that following the ship wasn't part of her mission. Samus was going to avenge the innocents that were slaughtered in mass on that station. She had to find out who controlled it.

Within moments, the two ships made the jump into hyperspace...Destination: Unknown.


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: HOT PURSUIT

Hunter Log 3839  
Those bastards. I'm going to find out who they are and make them pay. I'm sure that, as hunters, they had visited that station many a time for repairs on their own crafts. Why attack an installation independent of the government and military? Did they know I was there? Or was there something else they didn't want leaving?

The ship that attacked the station was an Emerald Class. The lowest class of battleship commissioned by the Confederation. The Confederation Military decommissioned all of them about 40 years ago, citing inefficient armor for combat situations...a fixable problem in my opinion. This ship, seemed to have fixed that problem. Instead of the normal grey-blue plating that covered the hull, this one had a flashy yellow-green hull that changed from your point of view. The shape of the hull was also different. A more efficient, more aerodynamic armor system smoothed the craft over from stem to stern, bearing a striking resemblance to a shiny rocket or a bullet...I've never seen anything like it.

In all of my encounters with the Space Pirates, I've never seen one of their space vessels...and I guess this is standard design for their crafts.

Here's my chance to look it over up close...

Samus out...  
The ships both slowed to a mid-space hover, the larger unaware of the smaller ship following it. Slowly, Samus had her ship near the underside of the Emerald Class and attach to it like a remora clinging to the belly of a whale. The hatch slid open to reveal a waste hatch on the battleship.

"Well, if this is what it takes..."

Then Samus looked to her right... 

"What...no..."

Bearing itself before the battleship stood a cluster of large planet fragments. At the center was what looked like a smooth and shiny ball bearing with what looked like massive grappling beams extending in five directions. At the end of each beam was a section of the planet. On each section, there was an inconceivably large metal plate. Upon further inspection, there were Space Pirates clinging to each metal surface, seemingly fixing fractures in the plates. Around the five main parts of the planet were smaller chunks of earth being pushed this way and that by small propulsion engines...evidently unplanned breakages of the main sections. From what it appears, the planet was meant to be able to explode, but was also meant to be repaired fairly easily. 

"Zebes..."

Before she could finish her thought, Samus felt the battleship begin to move. She quickly slipped back into her ship and sealed the hatch. She had to stay close to the battleship or she would be detected. She input the command to move with the ship and she sat back to "enjoy the show".

The ships moved together toward one of the planet fragments. The closer they came, the better she could see the violet-blue rock surface of the planet she had become so familiar with...she also began to make out the activity on the surface...pirates...everywhere. Definitely not the place to land.

A quick scan of the area revealed an energy bridge reaching out toward one of the smaller fragments. The surface appeared quiet and bare. That would be the point of entry. 

"Grady, enable the cloaking device, we're going to the fragment at the end of that energy bridge."

"Aye, ma'am."

Suddenly the cockpit of the ship went pitch black, and the ship disappeared from sight. It slowly drifted towards the small rock and carefully landed on the surface. If any dust was kicked up, her location would be given away. The touchdown had to be just right. A minute yo-yo effect was the sign of a successful landing.

"Grady, scan the surface and area for surveillance. I want to assure I won't be spotted when I get out." 

"Ma'am. Nothing aimed in this direction, ma'am. You're clear for exit."

"Thank you, Grady. I'll see you later."

"Counting on it, Ms. Aran." 

The hatch opened and Samus popped out of the ship like a jack-in-the-box. She landed on the surface and stayed crouched. She scanned the surface quickly and found an air lock about ten yards away. She dashed towards it and stopped next to it. No bells and whistles, just a round swivel handle. Samus reached for the handle. 

Just before her hand could touch the handle, it began to turn by itself. Samus stood up alertly and moved to the back of the hatch. It opened toward her and the space pirate poked his head out. He looked around on the surface and saw nothing. Then he looked up...face to face with Samus. Before he could make a noise, Samus made one for him. She crashed a fist down right in his face, making him slide down the ladder, hitting his head rung by rung PUNGPUNGPUNGPUNGPUNG! until he hit the bottom with a thud. 

Samus jumped into the hole and landed next to the pirate. Broken jaw, snapped neck...yeah, this guy was gone.

"There must be some significance to this small rock for them to build a bridge to it," Samus thought. She cautiously began down the corridor amidst clusters of pipe work spewing steam at unsecured junctions. Once she came to the end of the corridor, she stopped. It opened up into a rather large room that seemed to pulse with blue-green light. She peered around the corner and saw a room filled with capsules that resembled cryo-tanks...but were filled with effervescent liquid...and contained different kinds of creatures... There seemed to be no extra activity in the room, so she proceeded with caution.

The room was massive. Approximately thirty tanks lined the walls, and eight tanks were spread throughout the floor. Small control panels were at the base of each tank. The tanks themselves varied in size and height, ranging anywhere from about 13 to even 35 feet high, and anywhere from 6 to 20 feet in diameter. In the larger tanks, normal size space pirates were hooked to breathing systems and seemed to be suspended lifelessly in the bubbling liquid. In the smaller tanks, other space pirates drifted much the same, but energy would pulse though the viscous substance intermittently. Different colors in different tanks...strange.

A noise...a sliding door...hide. Samus quickly dashed to a corner where there was a nook between two wall tanks and a space behind a floor tank. In walked what seemed to be a space pirate...but it looked somewhat different than the ones Samus had faced in combat. It was black with light blue patches here and there. Instead of primal claws, this one had distinct digits, four of them, lacking an opposable thumb, but having what looked like a dew claw. It began walking from tank to tank, recording information or notes in what looked to be an electronic notepad. Every few tanks or so, he would make a growling or grumbling sound, then move on. He began to get closer to Samus, but she didn't want to kill this one...she wanted to study it and see why it was different from the rest... She began to scan her immediate environment. She looked directly above her and saw a shelf-like structure above a row of tanks, shielded to the inside. That's where she needed to be.

After the "scientist" pirate finished his inspection, he let out a noise that sounded much like a loud belch, then left the same way he entered. Samus wearily jumped down, assuming that the coast was clear. She walked about the tanks once again. She peered into one closely...and the pirate moved. It made Samus jump backward, stumbling into another tank with a loud CLANK! . The sliding door flung itself open and the "scientist" pirate entered the room, immediately spotting Samus. Both paused in a temporary silence, then the pirate made a screech in a pitch that made Samus squint her eyes. Quickly she fired a shot at the "scientist", but he leapt out of the way. The shot hit a tank and reflected away...only to hit another tank. The shot pinged around in the room like a ball in a pinball machine. Samus and the "scientist" hit the floor to avoid the shot. After a few seconds, Samus began to hear cracks. She looked up to notice that activity was taking place in each of the tanks. The sound must be disturbing the pirates inside. The shot finally hit a control panel and absorbed into it, causing it to short and explode in a cascade of sparks.

The pirate inside the tube fell forward and through the glass wall, onto the ground. Upon hitting the floor, the pirate made sharp gasping noises with its eyes about as wide as they could be. From time to time, it pulsed and convulsed with yellow energy. In a few moments the gasping stopped and it begin to stand. 

From behind Samus, the "scientist" screeched at the other pirate and got its attention. The yellow pirate dashed at Samus and swung with a massive claw. Samus jumped to the side and punched the pirate in the face. The punch landed on the side of the pirate's head and stopped. No movement. It didn't even faze the pirate. Quickly, Samus jumped backward and away from the pirate. Both were seemingly in shock. The pirate couldn't believe it wasn't hurt, and neither could Samus.

The pirate jumped at Samus and tackled her. It made a hissing sound and raised its claw above its head for a killing blow.

"Look down." Samus instructed the pirate.

It looked down just in time to see her arm cannon in its torso before it was blown off of her and onto the catwalk above. Samus jumped up and pursued the pirate on the catwalk. The pirate lie on the floor with a hole in its torso, convulsing. After a few screeches, the pirate began doing something Samus had never seen...healing. The hole bubbled and filled back up as the pirate came to its feet once again. Samus heard what seemed to be a laugh come from the pirate as he began to recoil to strike again.

Samus began to charge up her cannon.

They jumped at each other and met in mid-air.

"Let's see if you can heal this..." 

Samus released the charged shot in the face of the pirate. When they landed, the pirate was still standing, but behind him, Samus noticed the head land in a splatter of yellow. The pirate's arms reached up and grabbed Samus' shoulders, but then slipped and fell to the floor. The head and body began to boil into a yellow liquid that seeped through the gaps in the catwalk. What didn't run through the catwalk boiled away into steam and vanished.

What kind of new creature was this...and how many are there?

Samus went through the door the "scientist" exited through during the battle. In the next room was the energy bridge. Samus began walking across the bridge and heard something behind her. She turned to see the "scientist" holding onto a lever. She knew immediately what that lever did.

He flipped the switch and the bridge began to disengage. Samus had to run. She began dashing as fast as she could toward the next fragment. The end of the energy bridge quickly in her pursuit. The closer she came to the next fragment, the closer the edge of the bridge came to her. Suddenly she lost her footing and began to fall, but before she did, she launched her grappling beam toward the end of the tunnel. It went into the tunnel, but she continued to fall. Finally, the beam struck something and Samus stalled, hanging between the two planet fragments.

Not a good place to be...


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: REUNION WITH AN OLD F(R)IEND

Hunter Log 3840  
Everything had gone fairly well up until the past 12 hours. Now? Things could be better.

I'm dangling from my grappling beam next to a giant chunk of planet Zebes. There is a weak atmosphere, so most gravity is still in control. If I were to fall, however, I would eventually hit the vacuum of space, from which there would be no escape...unless I hit something, of course.

I'm sure the scientist will soon become aware of my being here and open fire on me. I'm also guessing that he'll alert those inside about me as well. Then I'll be stuck between a rock and...well...another rock.

Samus out...   
Samus was aware of the particle emitter for the energy bridge. If she tugged on her grappling beam too hard, the friction would blow the emitter and sever her beam. She needed to find a way to pull herself up without rubbing the emitter... 

"Skreeeeeee!"

Samus turned her head toward the first planet fragment. The "scientist" was glaring at her out of an observation window. His hand was on a familiar lever. 

"Oh, no..." Samus thought, "the bridge..." 

Before she could finish her thought, the bridge began to engage and slide out, but with a reaction that the "scientist" didn't plan to happen. The bridge pulled Samus away from the wall of the planet fragment, but it also pulled her toward the energy bridge. When she got close enough, Samus swung herself inside the energy bridge and saluted to the confused "scientist". She then turned and ran to the end of the bridge inside the large planet fragment and disengaged the bridge.

"Sorry, but there's no room for you on this rock," Samus said slyly to the "scientist" across the ravine.

With a flick of her wrist, she also engaged the vacuum door that sealed the outside. When she turned to look down the corridor, she noticed a peculiar familiarity to the environment.

Mosses and lichens clung to the walls, floor, and ceiling. Farther down the hall, plant tendrils snaked and reached down the corridor, seemingly yearning for what was at the end of the tunnel. This was definitely Brinstar.

Samus quickly recalled her last visit here. She also recalled the monstrous dinosaur-like creature Kraid, who stood easily four stories high. As fierce as the creature was, though, he was very sluggish, and was fairly easy to dispatch.

After the quick flashback, Samus decided to proceed down the corridor. Before too long, mossy floors became tangled vines, forming a conglomeration of "tiles" on the ground.

Samus began to notice another pulsing light from around a turn down the corridor. This pulsing was yellowish green, and was somewhat faster than the pulsing in the laboratory. 

As Samus rounded the corner, she saw what seemed to be another tank, yet this one looked totally organic. It resembled more of a fluid-filled sac than a piece of technology, but what else would one expect in a plant environment?

The pod was close to double the size of the tanks in the lab, and the viscous liquid was opaque, not allowing for sight of the contents. The sac also tended to bulge at times, like what was inside was actually moving...or changing.

Samus moved down into the large chamber for closer observation, but just as she began to set foot on the floor of the room, she heard a whizzing sound from directly above. She quickly dove out of the way and a bat-like creature slammed into the ground. Samus waited for it to explode, just like those she had encountered on her last visit, but she heard nothing. When she looked again, the creature was gone. She tried to think about what had just happened, but given what she knew, it still didn't make sense. There was no explosion, yet there was nothing left after the creature hit the ground.

She began to pick herself up from the ground, but before she could completely stand up, something slammed into her left side and knocked her against the wall. Something was immediately wrong. Her left arm was burning hot, even through the suit. When she looked, she saw the creature latched onto her arm by its mouth. Green liquid oozed around the mouth of the creature. It had to be acid. 

This was Samus' chance. She put her arm cannon directly in the face of the creature and blasted. In a spatter of green, it exploded.

Even after she disposed of the creature, Samus continued to lie there against the wall. She examined her arm. A tiny hole had been made in her suit...the acid had been applied directly to her skin. This was not good. There was no telling what kind of toxins existed in the caustic compound. She carefully removed her arm guard to inspect. The substance had burned through her protective undersuit and had made her skin bubble in an area about the size of a kneecap. Samus winced at the sight of the wound, but knew it was the least of her worries at the time. She quickly put the arm guard back on and locked it into place. She could feel the blisters rupture as she replaced the guard. That was for the better anyway.

Samus finally got to her feet and exited the room. After a short, but rather expansive hallway, she entered a room that looked like a thorny cathedral. The room was so expansive; she could hardly see the top. Massive thorns protruded from the walls.

A splashing noise could faintly be heard behind Samus. She turned around to see a small tide of creamy green liquid flowing from down the hall into the cathedral room.

The pod.

A dark figure appeared down the hall...a LARGE dark figure. It slowly made its way down the unlit corridor towards the cathedral room. Its sheer size wouldn't allow for anything to pass by it. The only way out was up...way up.

Samus began to feel the vibration from the steps of the large creature. It made ripples in the liquid on the ground at Samus' feet.

Through the darkness of the hall, the eyes of the creature began to show. Three sequential ruby colored eyes gleamed in the artificial light of the cathedral.

Suddenly the vibration stopped. It saw her. The figure seemed to change. The silhouette became less massive at the top and more massive toward the bottom. It then lifted off of the ground with insect-like legs. The creature started to move down the hall at a more rapid pace. When it entered the dim light of the cathedral, its identity was established.

The main body looked like a smaller version of Kraid. The entire body, feet and all. It still had its stumpy arms and legs...or did it.

The legs, or what seemed to be Kraid's legs began to unfold to reveal spiny insectine claws. Above Kraid's head raised a rather savage looking tail with a large stinger spine on the tip.

Meet Kraid...slightly modified.

The tail quickly swiped and caused the massive foliage on the walls to collapse and cut off access to the hallway.

Scorpion Kraid dashed quickly at Samus. She dove directly under him and ran out the back side. The tail began to strike and slash as if it had a mind of its own. In a fit of hops, rolls, and leaps, Samus dodged the furious attacks from the tail. After one swipe, Samus grabbed the tail. It then started in a mad frenzy of movements to try to eject Samus. She managed to get a clean shot at the tip of the tail, and after her cannon charged to full, she let a blast fly. It connected with the stinger and blew it off whole. The tip flew over and rolled against a wall. After the shot, Samus was thrown against the wall and narrowly missed one of the large thorns. She fell to the floor bouncing and ricocheting off of thorns the entire way down. When she gathered her wits, Kraid was standing over her.

A claw reached out and snatched Samus up. It raised her to Scorpion Kraid's face. She could smell the stench on its breath. She began to struggle, aware of the impending doom. Finally she got her arm cannon free.

"New look, same old tricks..." Samus said with a smirk.

She launched a shot directly into Scorpion Kraid's middle and dominant eye, squirting fluid into the air. In response, Scorpion Kraid tossed Samus into the air, howling. In flight, Samus took aim and launched her only reserve super missile into Scorpion Kraid's mouth.

There was a dull thud. Scorpion Kraid reared up on its backmost insect legs and fell backwards, spewing smoke from its mouth. It landed against the wall, impaled on thorns.

Round one, advantage: Samus.


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5: CREATURE FROM THE GREEN LAGOON

Hunter Log 3842  
That was a close one, but it really ended in a fun way. I haven't had a good dive like that since my days at the academy.

As for the weapons, that's a welcome addition. I'll have to load up here just in case it's a while before I see another cache like this.

The ice beam should come in handy as well. The one I had before was fried back at the asteroid base along with my plasma cannon and wave beam.

It would be best for me to get moving now. The way the acid is pouring out of that hole, the water level should start rising shortly, and I don't want to be around for that.

Samus out...

The water level WAS rising. It had gone up nearly a foot in depth since Samus exited the lake. Before long, the flow from the high corridor stopped. Not to a trickle or a small stream, but completely shut off. The corridor exit itself began to move. It slowly grew smaller, just like a sphincter muscle contracting. After a few brief moments, the exit could no longer be seen, but a flush wall, devoid of asymmetrical form.

After witnessing the "disappearance" of the corridor, Samus turned toward a blue door. As she took her first step, a metal cover began to extend over the surface, shielding the blue.

Samus knew that it must have been the only other way out. She also knew that she probably wouldn't like the reason it had closed.

In the lake room, nothing but silence. The same sound as death. Samus cautiously scanned the room, looking high, and looking low. Nothing was apparent. Then she sensed movement...

A drop of green fluid...a single drop...fell from the ceiling and struck the water, however, that couldn't have been a normal drop...

The reaction of the globule hitting the lake was anything but what was expected. A large splash of green erupted upwards into a massive green column. Instead of falling, the column rose upward 50 feet into the air and stalled. It appeared to have a continuous flow to maintain its height.

Samus readied herself.

A large blob came flying out of the top of the column and landed on the shore. It splattered and then began to recoil and take shape. A head began to form, with a gooey mouth and hazy green eyes...from that, a set of shoulders and a back...both raised by a set of thick arms that formed in much the way the column had...then a pair of bent legs with no distinct feet. 

"Great...living slime...I knew how to handle them at the combine, but I doubt this will be the same..." Samus thought with a half smirk on her face.

The creature began to charge at Samus, much like a gorilla or chimpanzee, its arms leading its legs. It made a loud gurgling noise as it jumped toward her. Samus leapt toward the side and fired a blast back at the creature as she landed on her right shoulder.

The blast struck the creature in the head and caused it to land awkwardly. Samus got to her feet quickly to observe the effects of her blast.

The creature raised back up, half of its face missing. It howled into the air. In response, a glob of fluid dispelled from the column and landed on the head of the creature. The glob replaced the part of the creature's head that had been dispelled.

Its health renewed, the creature charged at Samus again. This time, she wouldn't play games. She fired a missile directly at the creature. It hit the creature right in the mouth...and flew out the other side, exploding on the shore...and the creature continued without hesitation. Samus had to think fast.

This creature wasn't nimble, so dodging obviously wasn't its strongpoint. She switched to the ice beam and shot without looking. It struck the creature in its left arm. When the arm hit the ground, it snapped off and the creature went skidding across the ground.

Samus jumped over the creature and noticed another glob from the column was shooting toward the creature as it lie screaming.

She fired upon the glob and struck it in mid-air. It hit the creature and shattered like a rock hitting the bottom of a canyon. The creature howled in pain.

Two more shots flew from the column, and Samus blasted both of those in the air as well, and like their predecessor, they crashed down on the creature.

Samus noticed that the creature looked dented in, like it was losing its structural integrity.

Three shots erupted from the column this time, and Samus shot them in the air just like the others, but this time, she managed to fire a blast at the creature as well, freezing it.

This time, when the frozen globs connected with the creature, they all shattered in an explosion of ice shards.

The column shrunk by about ten feet. Samus charged her ice beam and unleashed a furious blast at the column. It struck it about 20 feet up and froze it completely through to the other side. Samus followed up with a missile that sliced the column in half.

The chunk that broke off dissolved into green tinted bubbles that popped into nothingness. Samus noticed that the remains of the creature did the same.

In moments, multitudes of globs shot out of the side of the column directly at Samus. She shot as quickly as she could and froze many of them, but there were too many for her as three globs shot through and connected with her shoulder, torso, and leg. The impact threw Samus against the wall, where the slime held her firmly. 

She heard a gurgling sound from the column and witnessed more globs hurtling toward her...then darkness. Samus was completely engulfed in green slime. She could see nothing, and hear nothing but the sound of being underwater.

Unbeknownst to Samus, the column began to shift and take form. It grew a large white belly and short arms. Then a long tail grew out the back as dinosaur-like legs formed at the base. At the top, a large mouth full of teeth formed, as well as three conjoined eyes...THIS was the new Kraid.

From under the slime, Samus heard a familiar roar, and impact vibrations. 

Kraid saw his prey pinned against the wall...helpless. A testament to his new power. He would feast this day.

Suddenly, the slime began to change. It dulled in color, then changed to ice. 

Kraid grunted.

The ice exploded as Samus emerged from her prison, leaping off of the wall. Upon observing her new target, she flipped over and stopped.

Both Samus and Kraid paused to survey each other. Though a new creature entirely, the new Kraid retained memories from the cells of its deceased predecessor. It knew the capabilities of the small being. It had to use its new powers to its advantage.

Samus knew this wasn't the same creature as before. She had to figure out a way to dispatch of him. She had figured out that the slime couldn't hold up against her ice beam, but she wasn't sure if it would work directly on Kraid. She had to try. 

Kraid charged at Samus, moving with quickness she had never seen before. She somersaulted backwards against the wall and shot towards his head. His arm extended and knocked her back to the ground.

The new Kraid was obviously more nimble than the other was.

Samus gathered herself again and ran towards his legs. His tail whipped around at her, but she jumped over it. Before she could think again, it backswept toward her. She back flipped over it as an instinct. She looked up and saw a massive thorn coming at her. She dodged to the side, and at the same time, ducked a swipe from the tail.

The giant thorn connected with Kraid's own tail and he roared in pain. Samus witnessed, however, the thorn melting into green slime and melding with Kraid's tail, filling the wound and healing it. This would not be easy.

Samus managed to get behind Kraid and began blasting ice beam shots at his back. The shots landed, froze, then melted immediately. The temperature was too high to stay frozen. Kraid then turned around to face his foe, who was now stuck between the lake and himself.

Samus fired a missile followed by a super missile, both aimed at Kraid's face. He saw them well in advance.

Kraid opened his mouth as to swallow the missiles, then a hole opened through his head, allowing them to pass directly through and detonate on the wall. Kraid looked slyly at Samus, and charged at her.

She had to think quickly...she had to use the environment...

Kraid, in a move never attempted before by a large lizard, jumped and attempted to perform a bellyflop on Samus.

She ran as quickly as she could and dove towards Kraid. He flew overhead as Samus landed safely on the other side. She turned to observe and saw Kraid actually bounce and land in the lake.

THAT'S IT! This was her chance.

Samus fired a flurry of ice beam shots at the lake. She had never blasted so quickly before in her life. She panned her shots from left to right, freezing the water in place. The ice spread across the lake and froze Kraid as he was trying to right himself in the water. Before too long, he was secured in place; his body heat not enough to thaw an entire lake. Samus calmly walk out on the ice and onto Kraid's chest overlooking his face. She readied a super missile to end it.

Kraid made a noise and began to melt slowly into the green liquid once again, trying to escape.

Samus knew this would happen...

As Kraid finally finished melting into the liquid, Samus let a charged ice beam blast go directly at the green puddle. It froze over along with the rest of the lake.

Now it was time for the knockout punch. Samus jumped as high as she could and shot a super missile straight down. The impact shook the entire room as ice rocks flew all about the room in a wintry chaos.

The pieces of frozen slime dissolved into bubbles and disappeared. 

Samus landed in the lake bed and looked up.

Snow had begun to fall in the massive room. This would be the only weather Samus would see on this trip.

A noise toward the door drew her attention. The metal cover had retracted and exposed the blue door once again.

It was time to leave.

Samus took time to reload her weapons and then blasted the door to continue through. The next room had a power elevator to go down, and a control to extend an energy bridge across space to another one of the massive planet fragments.

"Hmm...which one..." Samus asked herself with a hint of attitude.


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: DEEP BLUE SOMETHING

Hunter Log 3843

I've finally got a chance to breathe. I can control the locks in this tiny control room, so it should be safe for a while.

I can afford to take a small rest here for a few hours while I figure out what to do next. Should I move on to the next fragment, or should I go deeper and try to find out more about what's going on?

You know, I really don't want to think about that right now. I need some sleep...

Samus out...  
Samus took a seat and leaned up against the main control panel. She had disabled the lift and energy bridge and had sealed the only other way into the room.

Within minutes, Samus had slipped from consciousness. 

A faint light appeared in the darkness. A simple, small, white light. It began to move forward, then sped forward even faster. It traveled down a tunnel, winding and twisting its way into some apparently ancient structure. It finally plummeted straight down until the tunnel opened up into the center of a massive dome-shaped chamber.

The ground was piled with lifeless bodies of Chozo. Many more were lined all around the wall, standing with their backs against it.

One imperfection stood out against the smooth, solid walls of the dome. A small nook with a ramp interrupted one part of the wall. On the small ledge above the ramp, there was a piece of machinery, and a Space Pirate. Two more Space Pirates emerged behind another Chozo. The two pirates forced the gentle creature down the ramp and against the last open place along the wall, then scurried back up the ramp.

The lighting in the room went dim, then what looked like purple electricity pulsed upward from the Chozo to the hole in the top of the dome. All of the Chozo that had stood along the edge of the dome collapsed to the ground in one synchronized motion.

A flood of pirates made their way down the ramp and began to heave the lifeless creatures into the other piles toward the middle of the room.

Suddenly the view began to pull backwards. Back up the hole and into the tunnel, twisting, turning, spinning, then darkness again... 

----------------------

Samus awoke in a cold sweat. Condensation had formed on the inside of her visor from her body heat. She removed her helmet and wiped the sweat from her upper lip and forehead, then wiped the inside of her visor.

"What was that?" Samus thought, "Was it real? Could it have possibly been something that actually happened?"

She didn't recognize the large chamber, but then again, she hadn't recognized too many things in the once familiar Brinstar. Things had definitely changed since her last "visit".

Something caught Samus' attention. The control screens indicated that someone was trying to activate the lift from the bottom.

She had to get out of the room.

Samus first activated the energy bridge and waited for it to connect to its destination, then she powered the lift. She quickly dashed across the bridge.

This bridge was much longer than the last one. It connected two large planet fragments directly to each other.

Before Samus had made it too far across the bridge, she felt a rush that nearly made her fall forward. She stopped moving her feet and noticed that she was moving forward, hovering over the ground.

"Hmm...I might as well sit back and enjoy the ride," Samus said with unusual laxness.

The bridge carried her all the way to the end and into another control room, similar to the previous one. She attempted to cut off the energy bridge, but the system wouldn't respond. 

UNABLE TO PROCESS REQUEST...  
BRIDGE IN USE...   
READY

She was being followed. She had to get out of the room. She had the same choice as she had just faced. Go down or go forward. Since she had someone behind her, she decided to do both. She activated the lift and sent it downward. Then she opened the door and proceeded through, sealing it behind her.

In the next room, a small tunnel was the only other exit. A track with a capsule-like structure were linked to the tunnel. Samus hopped in and the shield on the capsule closed automatically. Then it disappeared into the tunnel.

Multicolored lights flashed into the capsule through the clear shield. The light show dazzled Samus. Zebes had rarely shown a softer, more beautiful side. Before long, the lights dimmed as quickly as they had appeared and the capsule seemed to slow abruptly.

The capsule was now vertical. Outside, Samus saw fish and aquatic life swimming freely. She had arrived in Maridia. 

The capsule exited the aquarium-like environment and re-entered another docking station, where it came to rest. The shield retracted and Samus stepped out. She was now in what appeared to be an extensive lab area. There wasn't particularly a lot of equipment, and what little there was stood on or near the walls. The far end of the lab was strikingly visible to Samus.

As she approached it, she noticed it was mirror-like. She saw a reflection of herself, as well as the rest of the lab. The closer she got, the more she noticed the small permutations in the surface. Something was holding back a wall of water.

There was a constant hum that grew louder the closer she came to the wall. A strip of yellow ran in an inch wide line from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. It was seemingly some type of device designed to restrict the flow of water. 

Samus reached out to touch her reflection. Just as her hand reached inside the yellow strip, a small trickle of water began to flow towards Samus' finger. She began to pull her hand back, but just as she did, a matching hand shot out of the water and tried to pull her in by her wrist.

A tug-of-war began over Samus' wrist. She desperately fought to keep herself out of the water and the strange hand yanked to pull her inside. She reached back and fired her grappling beam at the far wall of the lab. After a moment, it connected.

As if being pulled one way wasn't bad enough, now she was being pulled in two directions. The strength of the arm was immense. Samus felt as if she was going to split into two pieces. 

Finally she gathered enough strength to pull on her grappling beam. When she did, the hand was pulled from the water.

When Samus landed on the ground, she noticed a second thud after hers. She shot a glance back toward the water...and saw herself.

Another Samus was lying on the ground looking back at Samus. It quickly jumped up and fired a shot at Samus. Samus rolled to the side and returned fire on the clone. It mimicked the same move. Shots rung against the steel walls and the two Samuses rolled, dodged, and fired upon each other. Eventually they fought toward the water again. When they got close enough, two more Samuses emerged from the water and joined the battle.

Samus dodged as long as she could, but finally caught a blast under her right arm on her side. She fell to the ground injured. The three clones approached her and readied their cannons.

"Suckers..." Samus said with pain in her voice.

She shot a charged ice beam blast at the center clone. The ice spread through each of them and froze all three in place. 

Samus rose up off of the ground, clutching her side.

"So you think it was a good idea to pick on someone with an ice beam when you're made entirely of water? I would have to say that the odds were in your favor, though." Samus said with incredible tact in her voice.

She walked back a few steps, then fired a missile into each of them, shattering the clones and sending their shards ricocheting off of the walls.

If this was a sign of things to come, then she was taking a left at the next intersection.


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7: GONE FISHIN'

Hunter Log 3844  
Hmm...I never knew I could look so good.

Those clones were something else...something other than smart.

That blast really packed a punch. It's stronger than the standard energy blast.

If the other bounty hunters are helping the pirates, then I'm sure they've come up with some strange combination to make some very lethal weapons.

Well, I guess there's only one way out of here, and it's time to go there.

Samus out...  
Samus checked over her suit for damage. There was none, but she felt like someone had swung a bat into her ribs. That was no normal blast.

Since the clones were evidently formed from water, it was beyond Samus how they could have had energy weapons. This was an entirely new technology.

Samus shrugged off the thoughts and prepared to enter the water. Before she did, however, she noticed one of the lockers on the wall had been punctured by one of the energy blasts. Inside was a small gray device about the size of a spark plug.

It was a gravity simulation adaptor. A piece of equipment used by bounty hunter for underwater combat and exploration. That would come in handy.

Samus grabbed the adaptor and inserted it into her chest guard. Her suit circuitry hummed and then her visor donned a light purple tint. One look at her reflection in the water showed the full effect of the adaptor.

The rest of her suit had changed to match the tint of the visor. The yellow areas of her suit had changed to a dark violet color to display the gravity simulation.

"Time to go fishing..." Samus said to herself as she entered the water. 

The water inspired a cooling effect on Samus' suit and caused a cramping in her injured ribs. She gritted her teeth as her suit began to equalize the temperature. Before long, she was comfortable and could move freely in the water as if she were on land.

She moved forward about 20 feet and the corridor opened up into what seemed to be a massive lake bottom. Fish teemed in a reef-like structure above. Crabs and other bottom feeding lifeforms crawled and slithered across the hardened sediment floor. Samus continued walking along what seemed to be the bottom of a deep trench.

Despite the depth, it was rather well-lit at the bottom with an exception being a cave at the end of the trench. Nothing could be seen inside but darkness. Above the cave were step-like structures, obviously engineered so pirates could get to the top of the reef.

Samus approached the cave, but as she did, she was struck by something so quickly; it sent her spinning in a barrel roll before she landed on the ground. As soon as she hit, she began to glance around. A giant eel was zooming straight for her, mouth open and teeth bore.

Samus rolled to the side and tried to blast with her ice cannon. It simply froze on the end of her cannon and fell off in a chunk that floated toward the surface.

"Well...that narrows things down a bit." Samus said sarcastically to herself.

The eel turned sharply and struck at the floating ice chunk.

"Well well...driven by motion...I think I can handle this."

The eel chomped at the ice chunk furiously until there was nothing left. It then looked around for another target...to its right.

It zoomed toward another moving body. It struck. An explosion.

The eel recoiled and hissed. It had just bitten a missile.

Samus chuckled to herself. This creature was a little bit of comic relief. This time she fired a missile first, then a slower super missile behind it.

The eel struck at the missile and caused another explosion. Shortly after the first explosion, a second, much larger explosion was heard. Both were dull thuds in the water, but the second one actually threw Samus to the ground from the shock waves. 

As the air bubbles rose, they revealed the damage done to the eel. After the first missile, it must have angled to the side and the super missile had struck it in one of its eyes, vaporizing it, as well as that side of its face.

The eel's head was now half-skull, half-face. It sensed the movement of the sediment from the ground and struck at it.

In a split second it was right upon Samus, but she fired a single super missile directly into the throat of the beast, halting its motion.

The eel immediately began to vibrate and finally exploded into a cloud of red and gray chunks. The beast's blood caused a fogging of the water and the pieces of flesh rose toward the surface. As they did, many carnivorous fish from the reef converged on them, devouring them before they floated too high.

Samus marveled at the cycle of life...but not too long. She began to scale the steps leading to the top of the trench.

After a few minutes, she had made her way to the top. Thirty yards away stood the massive Confederation wreckage of CV-10962.

It was originally a scientific exploration vessel sent to identify the inhabitants of Planet Zebes and study them. What it found was a batch of Space Pirates led by a massive brain that just couldn't seem to stay dead.

The ship did brandish something that Samus had not seen before. A hole about forty feet in diameter had been blown in the hull of the lower decks. 

Samus proceeded cautiously toward the ship, keeping her eyes locked onto the hull breach. Something suddenly emerged from the hole.

It was Draygon! The proud king of Maridia. It swam slowly out of the ship, screeching and howling. It turned over on its back, squirting its caustic gray goo and swinging its massive tail. 

Behind the massive sea-creature, nearly a dozen mochtroids shot out of the ship in pursuit.

The energy sapping lifeforms swarmed the monster. It began to roll in a fashion similar to a crocodile with its prey. It eventually spun quickly enough to throw the parasites off into the water. Draygon then spotted Samus and screamed.

Samus dashed at the large mutated crayfish with missiles blazing through the water. Many struck and exploded on Draygon's soft underbelly.

It howled again, but in response, it covered its vulnerable spot with its many arms and legs. The remaining missiles impacted the limbs and exploded, causing minimal damage.

By this time, the mochtroids had recovered and once again swarmed on the massive crustacean. It wailed as the mochtroids' tentacles slipped inside its plate armor on its back. After a moment it once again exposed its stomach.

Samus launched five super missiles at it and all five connected. Draygon belched a small load of gray goo and air bubbles as its eyes strained, blood vessels thickening. The beast's motion slowed and halted, but the mochtroids remained locked onto it.

Instead of floating to the surface like other sea life, it began to sink to the bottom, mochtroids and all. They pulsed and pulsed with more and more energy until Draygon's corpse began to turn a dull brown. The mochtroids finally released and the once great king of Maridia crumbled and dissolved into the water.

The mochtroids hovered closer to Samus, who readied her cannon. They hovered closer, but not a single mochtroid touched her. They simply lingered around her, then swam off into the trench. 

Were the full from their feast, or was there something larger in scope going on than what was obvious? Was there a war going on between the pirates and the metroid race?

This could be an unexpected problem...or could it be a blessing?


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8: WINGS OF THE FALLEN

Hunter Log 3845  
Why didn't the mochtroids attack me? That's incredibly strange.

They actually helped me to defeat Draygon.

And what is the deal with the hole in the ship? I wonder what caused it.

Whatever it was, it must have been large to make a hole that big.

Time to explore.

Samus out...  
After watching the mochtroids disappear over the edge of the trench, Samus turned and continued toward the massive wrecked ship.

It had definitely seen better days. Barnacles had grown along the sides and rust deposits seemingly erupted from the joints of each metal plate. The once shiny silver hull was now a dingy blue-green and in some places, reddish-brown.

Samus looked up and noticed a latticework of catwalks above the surface of the water. Due to her depth, they appeared tiny, but in the grand scope, they were massive metal structures riveted to giant cables which connected to the titanic rock structures caused by the impact of the ship.

She continued on toward the wreckage.

After finally reaching the side of the ship, the hull breach was about five meters high. Samus disengaged her gravity adaptor and floated up near the hole. When she got close enough, she re-engaged it and drifted inside the ship. 

Samus landed on a structure she couldn't see. Pulses still flickered here and there, but the emissions weren't bright enough to allow for vision of the environment.

Samus fired a single energy blast straight forward. As the blast traveled through the room, yellow light illuminated the surroundings.

Wreckage was piled along the floors, which were formerly walls. Massive metal crates created a jagged surface. As the blast splashed on the opposite wall, a door opened, and light shone into the room through it.

Small lizard-like creatures scurried into small nooks to escape the light as Samus proceeded toward the opening.

When she emerged through the hole, she was in a brightly lit room that extended upwards. The water surface was much lower in this room, easily five feet above Samus' head.

As she kept going, she made her way out of the water and onto a ledge. When she looked up, she noticed another door 15 feet above her. She began scaling upwards toward the door, but before she got there, the door was blown completely off of its frame and crashed against the opposing wall. The large metal plate fell toward Samus, but she managed to dodge it by clinging to the wall. It ricocheted off of a few ledges and splashed into the water.

Samus looked up to see another bounty hunter, similarly clad blasting away into the doorway, backing up. Shot after shot, the hunter unloaded into the tunnel, but before long, it turned and leapt away from the ledge. Before it got too far though, it was tackled by a swift moving beast...A METROID!

The metroid clutched onto the hunter with its claws and slammed him into a ledge. Samus heard the hunter screaming and yelling in pain. The metroid simply undulated and cooed in its chilling, yet baby-like call.

The screams gradually died down, eventually to a final breath. The metroid cooed again, and rose up, seemingly looking at Samus. It floated up and waited at the door, wanting her to follow it. Samus climbed up to the level where the dead hunter was. The suit leaked a dusty substance, the remains of the hunter inside. Samus checked his arm cannon and found a plasma adaptor cell. She inserted it into her arm cannon and made her way to the top ledge with the metroid.

The creature led her down a long corridor that ended with another door. It cooed at her as if trying to say, "Open the door."

Samus blasted the door once and it opened into a massive chamber. She could hardly believe her eyes.

Inside was the main reactor core for the ship...as well as metroids as far as the chamber would reach. Nests were constructed into the walls, as well as into the reactor itself. Samus also noticed metroids undergoing what looked to be mitosis. They were splitting into two identical bodies!

"How could such an ecosystem develop inside a reactor core?" Samus thought, "and how could they simply split into two?"

It was the reactor itself. The metroids weren't feeding off of only life energy; they had adapted to live off of energy in general! When the hunter had blasted the metroid, he had simply fed it more energy, making it more powerful. 

Samus saw a winding staircase to her left that would take her to the top, formerly the back, of the reactor chamber. She hopped on it and began climbing upward. A trio of metroids floated behind her, curious.

Samus had still not become accustomed to non-hostile metroids. She had had too many bad experiences with them in the past. 

She had finally made it to another door, which she opened in the normal fashion. Inside, a sign read "Escape Deck --- " and pointed up the shaft/hallway.

Samus entered, but the door caught on itself when trying to close, sticking in a position where it was 75 open.

She continued up the shaft, but the metroids stayed behind in the reactor room. Reaching the top, she found a delightfully archaic device: a door with a round screw lock system. 

She turned the round handle five times to her left and it flung open toward her. She jumped inside the room and saw what was formerly the Escape Deck. Its observation windows had been shattered leaving it exposed to the elements of Planet Zebes. Small puddles of water were gathered against the walls, held there by gravity.

Samus began to hear something. It sounded like rhythmic wind...a very familiar sound...one that continued to grow louder...

Through the small window panel shot the head of a beast...

Samus recoiled, stunned, and looked back up. It was RIDLEY! He roared so loud that it shook the entire Escape Deck. His tail then whipped through and smashed Samus in her right knee.

She fell into the corridor once again, but shot a plasma blast back upward at Ridley, which struck him directly in the chest.

He screeched and disappeared from sight as Samus was still falling backwards down the tunnel. Another second went by, then black...

Samus had hit the back of her head against the partially open door to the reactor. Her unconscious body fell awkwardly for a while in the reactor chamber before being cushioned by a group of metroids. They guided her safely to the bottom of the chamber and lay her on the floor. 

When she wakes up, there's gonna be hell to pay...


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9: "UP THE DOWN CORRIDOR"

Hunter Log 3846  
Wow, what a nap...

I'm not really sure how long I was out, but I suppose I needed the rest, whether it was forced on me or not.

The metroids have seemingly watched over me the entire time. This is very strange. I didn't know that metroids could be "tame" in a sense. 

Regardless, I've got to get back to the top of this place...back to the Escape Deck.

Samus out...   
Samus sat up, and immediately felt a pounding inside her skull. The last thing she could recall was falling down the corridor and firing at Ridley.

After a few minutes of gathering her thoughts, Samus stood up. Her head still pulsed somewhat, but not as badly as before.

The metroids around her cooed and floated closely.

Samus slowly began to climb back toward the top of the room. With each pull and with each jump, Samus felt her head throb with pain.

She finally reached the still open door to the Escape Deck corridor. She noticed a substantial scrape on part of the door. She reached back and felt the contour of the back of her helmet. It was slightly dented. That's why she felt like she got hit by a star cruiser...she had been.

She continued upward into the tunnel as the metroids halted at the doorway once again.

She very carefully scanned the Escape Deck before she entered. There was no trace of Ridley except for a small crusted piece of flesh lying on the floor. One side actually had a scaly texture, which was a problem. Ridley didn't have scales before...

Samus continued to climb to the top of the room, where Ridley had smashed the windows. Once she managed to get there, she pulled herself outside and sat on the end of the ship. What she now saw astounded her.

A valley reached for miles. Inside the valley was lucrative farmland with crops and livestock. None of this was native to Zebes. All of what she saw had come from a colony, no doubt about it. Samus then turned and faced her left...

A blue rock plateau, reaching for miles itself...covered in legions of space pirates. They were lined up in rank about as far as the eye could see. At the front of the rank were hundreds of bounty hunters, all standing at attention. Who was their leader?

This was very bad, aside from who was leading them. There's no way she could win taking on a force like that head-on. She had to figure out a way to fight such a force. Whatever that way was, it wasn't going to be on the top of the ship.

Samus slid back into the Escape Deck and reentered the reactor room. She made her way back down to the bottom and looked around. There was a door on the opposite side of the room where none of the metroids had built nests around.

That was a good indication to Samus that that would be the place to go next.

She approached the door. Behind her, metroids cooed as if to tell her that she shouldn't go in there. She ignored the sounds and kept on.

When she got close enough, the door opened automatically. Inside was a dimly lit tunnel. Lights strobed here and there as sparks trickled down the inverted corridor.

Samus eased into the tunnel and reached the door at the other end. She listened closely. She heard what sounded like rushing water beneath the door...the it suddenly opened under her.

She plunged into the torrent and it swept her away. Samus fought to keep her head toward the top of the water, but eventually gave up...Her gravity adaptor would allow her to function underwater, but the current was too powerful for her to keep footing on the ground.

She looked forward downstream and saw what looked like turbines spinning in the flow. If she were caught in those, it would all be over.

She began looking around frantically as she approached the massive turbines. There was a grate located directly to the right of the first turbine.

Samus swam over to that side of the tunnel and waited patiently to reach the grate. She launched a missile down the stream and connected with the grate, giving her access to the drainage flow.

She reached out toward the hole and the suction pulled her in. In a split second, she was being crushed against another grate. Pressure began to build up behind her and finally blasted her out of the tunnel, sending the grate flying against a wall.

Samus landed on a stone floor. She gathered herself and stood up. The water flowed out of the drainage tunnel across this room and into a hole in the floor.

Lining the walls of the room were capacitors and many machines that stored and conducted electricity. At the top of the room was a massive electromagnetic emitter. Its aim was focused on a small hole at the base of the wall.

Samus decided to put her morphing ball to the test. It would be the first time she had used it since the last time she was on Zebes. Hopefully that system had not been damaged in her encounters so far.

She engaged the system. Samus felt a familiar warmth within her body as it began to contract inward toward her waist. She clutched closer and closer, then her view flashed to white. After a few minutes of intense light, her view returned to normal, albeit much lower than before. She now looked directly into the small hole.

She proceeded forward and began spinning downward. She weaved through snake-like winding tunnels and then plummeted straight down. She was in a freefall for what seemed like minutes. She finally emerged at the top of a room and landed on a massive structure.

When she landed, she disengaged the morphing ball and sprawled onto her back. She turned over and then got up on her knees to examine the room.

It was the dome structure from the dream...and the massive piles of Chozo bodies...an unspectacular mausoleum of the magnificent race.

After she looked around more, she found the ramp leading to the exit. She crawled across the carcasses and finally reached the platform.

She turned once again to face the evidence of genocide. There was no decay...no smell of death. All of the bodies lay in waste, but were ageless and preserved. This made no sense.

Not much had made sense lately...

She reached to open the door, but it began to open before she could touch it. She now stood face to face with a pirate.

It reached and grabbed Samus' arm. Samus jerked it inside and met its face with the tip of her arm cannon. The pirate fell to one knee and released Samus.

She fired a single plasma shot into the head of the pirate and it collapsed to the ground.

"They must be preparing for another sacrifice..." thought Samus.

She had to stop them from killing any more Chozo.


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10: TOY SOLDIER

Hunter Log 3847  
The room at the far end of the tunnel from the dome must have been an energy harvesting station. The pirates are seemingly draining the Chozo of their life energy to accomplish something.

Since this dome is where the harvesting is done, then the door must eventually lead to where the Chozo are being kept.

It's time to fry some pirate.

Samus out...  
Samus stepped over the body of the dead pirate and exited the dome. A narrow hallway declined for easily 100 meters. Samus wearily made her way down.

When she came to the landing at the bottom, the room opened up into another massive chamber. Inside this chamber were four massive tanks, similar to the ones where she had encountered the "scientist". The only difference was that these were easily five times that size.

Samus entered the room and looked at the tanks. They were filled with a light blue liquid that only displayed a shadow of what was inside...and it was massive.

Samus moved around the room looking at the tanks. Four massive tanks holding four massive bodies. That's not a good sign.

Samus heard a clop! from her left. She turned to face the noise...it was a bounty hunter...

The hunter was clad in a green and blue armored suit. It seemed to be a little more heavily armored than Samus.

It took a step backwards, then charged toward Samus.

Samus dove behind a tank and readied her charge cannon with an ice beam shot. She turned and aimed to her left.

Soon she felt a massive slam on her back, between her shoulder blades. The hunter had leapt over the tank and landed on her back. It stuck its arm out and activated an energy knife that shot out from its wristband.

Samus rolled, knocking the hunter against the tank and jumped up. The hunter reeled for a moment, then chased after Samus. It jumped and grabbed Samus' ankle, causing her to fall.

It raised its energy knife, attempting a slash at Samus' leg, but she turned and blasted the charged ice shot directly at the hand with the knife. The shot connected and immediately froze the entire arm of the hunter.

Samus heard a scream from the hunter. She escaped the grasp and stood as the hunter clutched its frozen limb. Samus kicked the arm as hard as she could, and it shattered into fleshy and armored shards of frozen matter.

A shriek of massive pain erupted from the hunter as blood began pouring out of the arm socket. Samus reached down and disengaged the hunter's helmet. Inside was the beautiful young face of a teenage girl. She was crying, but trying to hold back under witness from Samus. Her brunette hair was matted to her head from the sweat caused by the injury and fight.

Samus removed her helmet as well. The girl gasped.

"Shoot first, ask questions later?" Samus asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Why did you do that..." asked the girl, sniffling.

"Shoot or be shot, kill or be killed...you remember that, don't you?" Samus inquired.

"I had just started when this whole thing went down...my father forced me to come along. They told me to kill you or they'd treat me like the big bird looking things..." replied the crying girl.

"Your father...so this thing is much bigger than just a rebellion. There really are unwilling fighters here... Where are the Chozo? The birds?" probed Samus. 

"They're in a huge yard that looks like a prison...they're on the surface...I...I...don't want to...die here..." pleaded the girl.

"You'll be alright, just hang on." Samus said, denial not evident in her tone. The girl had lost too much blood already. She lie in a massive puddle that covered at least six square feet.

"H-help me...please..." whispered the girl, tears pouring from her eyes. 

The girl huffed and whimpered a few times before relaxing her head into the puddle. The color and life faded from her face and eyes as her remaining tears trickled down her cheeks and mixed with the blood on the floor.

Samus sighed, then replaced the helmet over the girl's head.

She replaced her own helmet and began to exit the room. As she neared the door, she heard hurried footsteps coming down the hall. They were not the odd pitter-patter of pirate steps...they were human.

Samus quickly coiled next to the nearest tank and waited, watching.

Another hunter entered the room, but was taken aback by the obvious scene in the middle of a puddle of blood. An evident "NOOOOO!" was heard from the hunter as it ran to the dead girl.

It removed its helmet, revealing a man...probably the father.

"I never should have forced you to come...I never should have...you were everything...everything to me...now...I have nothing..." cried the man. Suddenly he quieted, though. He shot a glance toward the tank Samus was behind.

He had some kind of device around his head that had a lens over his right eye.

"Come out slowly..." he said toward Samus.

"How can he see me?" Samus thought. She relented, however, and emerged from behind the tank.

"Did you do this?" asked the man with obvious anger on his face.

Samus said nothing.

"I asked you a question! Did you do this?" he persisted, pointing at the corpse.

Samus remained silent.

"You're going to pay for this! You'll pay with your life!" the man erupted with a face red as a cherry and eyes full of fire and hatred. 

He donned his helmet and placed his hand on a panel close to the wall.

The tank closest to Samus began to shudder and blue liquid began to seep from the bottom. The glass rose to the ceiling. A massive foot stepped down, almost crushing Samus. An immense roar filled the room.

The massive creature resembled a pirate, but was much bigger. It had energy pulsing through its body. Samus started to run.

An energy blast caught her in the back and made her turn to face the source. The man had shot at her and pursued her. His open palm met her chest plate and slammed her against the wall.

"This beast is going to take pride in dismembering you...just like you did to my daughter...except he'll finish the job..." sneered the man.

"If I'm going to die, just tell me one thing," Samus demanded.

"What do you want?" asked the hunter.

"What is that thing?" Samus inquired.

"THAT, my dear Samus, is an Ultimate Pirate, infused with the power of the Chozo. In the beginning of the experimentation, we tried to infuse the pirates with the actual blood of the Chozo...the results weren't exactly favorable. But we finally managed a way to extract the energy of the Chozo and feed it directly into the tissue of the pirates. While it still killed some, it worked remarkably for others. This is one of the others." lectured the hunter.

"Well then, you might want to get out of the way, then." replied Samus.

"Huh..." the hunter blurted as he turned to see a gigantic claw zooming toward him.

The claw connected and flung the hunter against the far wall. He tried to get up, but couldn't get past his knees.

Samus now stood eye to shin with the beast. She simply looked up at him and waited on him to move. It began to glow and pointed its palm at her. She knew it was the time to move. She dashed to the left as a beam erupted from the beast's hand. The continuous blast followed behind her. She dove as the beam traveled over her head and melted four machines that lined the wall.

The room began to shake as the other capsules began to open. The rushing blue liquid carried the dead body of the girl to the side of the room. Three more Ultimate Pirates emerged. 

The hunter finally regained his composure and ran toward the large pirates.

"Get her, get her! That's Samus!" he yelled.

One of the Ultimates reached out and grabbed the hunter. It studied him, then tossed him to another Ultimate. It shook him a bit, then spoke in pirate language to the others. It then tossed the hunter into the air and all four Ultimates unleashed a blast on him. He was incinerated upon contact.

The Ultimates all laughed in a monstrous cacophony, then turned their focus to Samus.

She dashed directly toward them. As she neared, she noticed all four charging their beams.

She unleashed a super missile at the first Ultimate, which struck him in the chest. The explosion prompted him to blast, he missed, however, and struck one of the other Ultimates, dissolving a leg. When the second Ultimate fell to the ground, it let its beam fly, connecting with the head of the third one. Its body collapsed, lifeless, to the floor on top of the second Ultimate.

Two down, two to go.

The first and fourth Ultimates now remained, and were still able to fight. Samus fired three successive plasma shots at the fourth Ultimate. The connect each with a shoulder and the chest. It screamed and rushed at Samus, as did the first.

She dodged the hand of the first Ultimate, but the fourth snatched her up from the ground. It looked at the first, and tossed Samus into the air.

She knew what was coming...and waited. Before long, the blasts came toward Samus. She shot her grappling beam toward the top of one of the tanks. It connected and she retracted it, pulling herself out of the way of the blasts.

The two powerful beams struck the ceiling and caused it to crumble and fall in one section.

While their hands were nimble, the Ultimates lacked moving speed, and were crushed by the massive fragments of steel and rock that fell from the ceiling. 

Samus landed on the ground and caught her breath.

In a small arena, there would be no escaping an Ultimate.

It's time to find the Chozo.


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11: HUMANITY

Hunter Log 3847  
Pirates infused with pure Chozo energy...that's not good news. Those Ultimates were tough. None of my shots really damaged them...they scarcely moved them. I have to figure out a way to hurt them before I meet another one. Plus if I find one alone, that might be a problem.

It seems to me, though, that while they grew in stature and strength, their intelligence didn't...if anything it decreased a bit.

Ugh...what a day...I gotta get off this rock...

It's just getting worse by the minute...

Samus out...  
Samus took a moment to look around and witness the destruction in the room. 

A pile of rubble, a pile of Ultimates, a dead girl...this was almost too much for Samus to fathom.

She knew she had done a good job, and had done what she was sent to do, but it didn't feel right. Was she supposed to kill a child?

The thought erased her doubt, "No, she attacked me and tried to kill me." 

Another thought refreshed it, "H-help me...please..." The last words of the dying girl.

Then a vivid memory resounded through her mind, "They were...acceptable losses." The words of the President.

Was this an acceptable loss? Was she an enemy or a victim? Was she an unwilling participant?

No, she couldn't think about this. It would compromise the mission. If she lost the will to fight, the ability to kill, she would be killed herself...

That can't happen.

She had to get moving before this internal dialogue consumed her. She quickly moved to the door and opened it.

It revealed yet another room filled with tanks. These tanks however, were not large like the others, but maybe slightly larger than Samus herself.

Another difference...you could see inside the tanks...

The creatures inside looked like no race Samus had ever seen. She approached the nearest tank and keyed the display screen.

Subject 896A 

Subject's body parts continue to morph into odd shapes. Spinal column shattered from muscle development.  


Samus was puzzled. She could see no distinct head or neck, and there were no digits on any limbs.

She moved on to the next tank.

Subject 896C

Subject showed promise at first, but then suffered mass degeneration of nervous tissue. Loss of muscle control and severe sclerosis of nervous tissue. Dead.  


The creature in the tank was as thin as a rail. No clear gender could be determined. It looked like a skin covered humanoid skeleton. She moved on to another tank. 

Subject 896x

Subject has incredible response to the process. Also underwent gene therapy. Muscular enhancement: 275 No human has ever shown such progress. Process will continue.  


There was a human male inside that tank...were the others human? Was this some kind of bizarre testing to create an unstoppable army?

Something startled Samus. Did the man in the tank just blink?

"No, it must have been a bubble or something," Samus thought.

As she was turning, Samus heard something.

The man's palm was flat against the side of the tank. He was looking directly at Samus. He began to tap the side of the tank.

With each tap, a small crack developed in the glass. Before long, the tank shattered and he fell crashing on his chest in the floor. When he landed, he immediately began coughing loads of the fluid onto the floor.

After a moment, he began to gasp and catch his breath. He looked up at Samus.

"W...why are you here?"

"I'm on a mission from the Confederation." Samus replied.

"The Confederation...wasn't it the Space Federation before?" the man asked.

"Before the current president took office." Samus said with a hint of irritation.

"Ugh...help me up." the man said as he extended his hand.

Samus reached to grab it. The grip nearly crushed Samus' hand. She hoisted him quickly and let go, clutching her hand close to her body.

"What did they do to you?" she asked, shocked.

"They injected me with Chozo blood and charged it with their energy. I told them that it wouldn't work. After the first few subjects, they stripped me of my lab coat and put me in the tank." the man explained.

"So you performed these projects?" Samus inquired.

"Yes. I didn't want to, but the hunters I was working for brought me along. They told me that I'd be working on a replenishable food source." he said.

"You mean the farm?" Samus remembered.

"You've seen it, I guess. Yes, that was my work, but after I finished with that, the hunters handed me over to the pirates for warfare projects. They demanded that I make "super soldiers" so they could start an invasion." he stated.

"So you created those beasts in the last room?" Samus asked intently.

"Yes, the Ultimates. They're virtually unstoppable." he replied.

"So I noticed. There are four dead ones in the other room." she said.

"You managed to kill them?" he blurted.

"In a way. They really killed each other." she resounded.

"The only way they can be injured is by being hit with Chozo energy. I take it they shot each other." he guessed.

"Yeah, they pretty much incinerated each other with those beams. Hey...you don't happen to have anything that would allow me to shoot a beam like that, do you?" she asked.

He pointed to a compartment on the wall.

Behind a glass shield was a purple marble-looking object. Upon closer inspection, the marble pulsed with small blasts of electrical energy.

"What is it?" Samus asked.

"It's a micropulse energy orb. I created it from the Chozo energy. The small pulse inside replenishes itself, creating an endless supply of pure Chozo energy. Every time the pirates had a "sacrifice", one of these was the product," answered the man.

Samus took it and inserted it into her arm cannon. It shuddered and pulsed with energy. She felt that energy throughout her body. It was incredible...like floating on air. 

After a moment however, the placebo wore off as she remembered how the Chozo had suffered to produce this power. 

"Please, take it and finish your mission. I'll die soon from the side effects of the process. There's nothing you can do from here except move on. The Chozo are being kept in a detainment facility on the next planet fragment, but I will warn you, it's a dangerous place," said the man.

"Chances are that I've been there before," Samus replied.

The man opened a door that revealed another energy bridge, and Samus proceeded through.

He shut the door behind her. The man began coughing uncontrollably. First, red blood started flowing from his mouth, then a viscous purple liquid replaced it. The liquid also flowed from his ears and eye sockets. He fell to the floor and convulsed, then lay motionless.


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12: THE PITS OF HELL

Hunter Log 3848  
That man...he looked strangely familiar. More muscular than who I picture him being...but that could be the result of the process...no matter.

If the Chozo are being kept on the next rock, then that's where I've got to go.

I might stay here and rest, though. It's been too long of a day... 

Samus out...

Piquing her curiosity, she turned around and tried to reopen the door she had just come though.

It rejected her command to open.

She tried again, but with the same result.

The door had been locked from the other side.

"Why did he lock the door? Did he not want me to see him die?" Samus thought.

It's not like she hadn't seen death and destruction before, especially as a result of her own actions...

She bent over, placing one hand on the floor, and rested against the control panel to the energy bridge. As usual, she reached up and disengaged it.

The portal sealed, leaving Samus in a small, bluish darkness, which soon facilitated her weary eyes.

---------------------------- 

"H-help...please..."

"Acceptable losses..."

"Why did you do this to me?" 

"Well, our intelligence 'did' point to an attack on Ceres Station by Space Pirates..."

"Why did you do that..."

"Shoot or be shot, kill or be killed...you remember that, don't you?"

"...I...I...don't want to...die here..."

----------------------------

Samus jolted awake. She immediately had to remove her helmet from the intense heat and condensation inside. She felt like she could have drowned in it.

Gasping for air, Samus threw the helmet across the room. She pulled her legs behind her and braced herself, leaning forward. Gastric juices splattered onto the floor and speckled onto the walls and onto Samus herself.

She rolled onto her back, outside the puddle of vomit, and tried to relax.

After a while, her breathing slowed, and her body temperature lowered.

The dream was terrible. All of the images of the past...tormenting shadows...the destruction of Zebes, the hunter on the asteroid, the annihilation of the shipbuilding station, the hunter killed by the metroid, and the little girl...

"What am I doing..." Samus sighed.

She didn't have time to doubt herself. 

Despite not feeling rested, Samus made it to her feet and donned her helmet once again, looking toward the portal to the energy bridge.

She activated it and waited for it to reach its destination.

With a heavy sigh, and a heart just the same, Samus continued onto the bridge.

She carried herself in a different manner than before. Her feet were dragging across the artificial surface. The weight of her hands seemed to hold her arms at bay at her sides. Her shoulders also seemed to be a load as she leaned slightly forward.

"Why am I here?" she asked herself. "For my own good? For personal gain? Is it really my job, or do I have a choice, too?"

She stopped. She didn't want to go on. She shouldn't have to. What about what SHE wanted? Couldn't she get HER way?

She wanted to call her ship and take off from this cluster of rocks that caused her so much grief. It was time for her to take her life back...the life that had been stolen from her for all these years.

All the resentment, all the anger, all the frustration of all of her experiences began to culminate...

Then she heard a noise.

A loud scream...not human, but painful and desperate all the same. She had to act, no time to think.

Samus gathered herself and rushed across the energy bridge. At the end of it, she came to a junction and heard the noise again...to her left.

She dashed down the corridor and sensed heat growing around her. A dim red hue grew progressively on the walls and floor. Samus ignored it and kept moving.

The light grew more and more as the noise grew louder and louder each time she heard it.

She finally reached the end of the corridor...and began to fall as the red light engulfed her.

In the middle of her tumble, Samus looked down. All she saw was molten rock, bubbling into plumes of methane and ash.

She reached out toward the rock wall. She continued to plummet as her fingers dug into the stone, leaving deep depressions as she fell downward. She strain on her shoulder was intense.

She gritted her teeth as the stress began to get to her fingers. At any moment, they could break and she would fall helplessly into the hellish pit...and it would all end.

Her fingers finally took hold on a jutting rock structure.

Her thoughts of death vanished. It wasn't time yet. She couldn't just give up like that. Not here. Not now.

"I hate this planet, and I'm not about to die here," she said to herself.

Samus looked down. She was maybe a hundred feet above the burning lake. There was a small ledge ten feet below her. It would be small enough to stand on, and good enough to rest her arm.

Faithful, she let go and slid to the ledge. She turned and looked at the room. Across the fiery reservoir stood a massive group of Chozo, guarded by a few pirates. To the far left of the shore, one pirate had a sort of branding device.

One by one, the Chozo approached him. He would dip the brand into the lava, and then press it firmly on the back of the docile creatures. They would cry out in agony as their flesh was seared several layers deep.

Samus couldn't bear the sight...or the sound. She had to act.

There was no real way to cross the pit...except for a few pillars of rock that rose from the lake and connected to the ceiling.

Knowing that she'd draw attention, Samus had to act quickly. There was one pillar directly in front of her, and another, slightly past the first, and a little to the right. She took in a deep breath and fired two super missiles at each of the structures. 

One struck each pillar at the top and the bottom, severing them from their bases. Next she fired two successive energy blasts, one aimed at the bottom of the first pillar, and the other aimed at the top of the second.

After the shots connected, the first pillar leaned and crashed into the lake toward Samus. Avoiding the wave of molten rock, she leapt over it and landed on the new "bridge". She ran toward the base and watched the other pillar fall toward the opposite shore, crushing one of the pirates on patrol.

Samus jumped from the end of the first pillar to the second pillar and continued toward the beach.

The remaining pirates opened fire on Samus. Charged plasma shots nearly filled the air as they whizzed past her body. She somersaulted off and landed her dismount on the rocky shore.

Samus returned fire on the pirates, picking them off one at a time. The pirate with the brand ran at Samus with the lava-tipped instrument raised over his head. 

He swung at her head and she leaned back under it, letting it pass over her face. He immediately swung again, downward, and Samus caught it in her hand. After a short struggle, she wrenched it away from the pirate and tossed it into the lake.

The pirate, enraged, crouched, ready to tackle Samus. He struck quickly and suddenly, like a cobra...but instead of Samus, he met a very large hand...

A Chozo had reached out and grabbed the pirate by the face. It struggled to break free, but couldn't escape the grasp of the mighty bird.

The Chozo raised the pirate over its head, and the herd roared in response. It then slung the pirate toward the ground, then launched the flailing alien into the air.

The pirate sprawled as it flew and landed with a thud in the middle of a host of Chozo. After a few minutes, the pirate flew through the air again, this time landing with a thick splash in his new molten grave. 

Samus turned to see the avian army all looking at her.

She now had an army at her disposal, but how will she get them out?


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13: DRIFTERS

Hunter Log 3849  
I have a feeling this isn't all of the Chozo. The girl said they were in a prison structure. I think this was just a place for marking the Chozo ready for sacrifice. 

While the Chozo had just decimated that single pirate, they are not a warrior race. They are peaceful and desire knowledge and wisdom, not power.

They could help me in battle, but in the long run, they'd just get in the way and get killed. One of my goals is to prevent that.

They seem to be showing me a way out, so I guess it's time to continue.

Samus out...

The sea of Chozo parted to reveal a door at the back of the chamber.

Samus made her way down the path created by the giant birds and reached the door, which one had already opened.

As Samus proceeded through, she could hear the creatures filing in behind her. This could be dangerous if Samus was fired upon inside the tunnel.

She turned and gestured to the lead Chozo to stay back a bit to give her some room, then continued on.

The tunnel finally led to a massive cylindrical room with a completely flat metal floor. To the far left stood a control panel.

Samus entered the room and the Chozo followed.

After all of the creatures had made it inside, Samus pressed the console. The floor shifted, which caught many Chozo off-guard as they braced themselves against their comrades. They began moving upward.

Samus contemplated their destination. This could possibly be a bad thing. What if the elevator's destination was the prison? What would she do with all of the branded prisoners?

The elevator finally reached its destination: a large, well-lit room with four pirates. 

Samus fired a plasma shot at the first, severing its torso into two pieces. The Chozo handled the other three, smashing them against the walls.

The result surprised Samus. The force used on the pirates left dents in the metal walls that were easily several inches thick.

She proceeded toward the door and opened it. 

Outside lava canals snaked through the terrain and plumes of sulfurous gas escaped from crevasses. The smell of rotten eggs permeated even Samus' breathing system. She cringed in response. 

There was nowhere to go in front of the building, so Samus proceeded to the right and looked behind the structure.

There stood a massive black wall that looked to be made from cooled lava. Across the top was a small lava canal.

"So much for barbed wire," thought Samus.

On the corners of the wall were what appeared to be guard towers with gun turrets.

This was definitely the place where the rest of the Chozo were being held. 

Samus couldn't put the other Chozo in jeopardy by bringing them with her. She had to go this one alone...as usual.

She peeked around the side of the building to get a glimpse of the far guard tower. Inside was a pirate, seemingly sleeping at his post. The other guard tower seemed vacant, so Samus approached the massive obsidian wall.

She knocked on the structure. Solid. She definitely couldn't dig her fingers into that stuff, especially after what had happened underground.

Samus continued around the wall, as close to it as she could get. When she rounded a corner, she saw her way in.

Running under the wall was a lava flow. The opening was nearly two feet tall and three feet wide...just large enough to crawl under.

She made her way to the lava canal and knew that she had to work quickly. She began blasting ice beam shots at the molten rock, solidifying it. After a few moments, she had cooled enough to slip into the opening.

After crawling through, she emerged in an empty courtyard. At the back of the courtyard stood a large black structure. It looked similar to a geodesic dome, except for being flat around its base. It connected to the wall to create a single large mass of solid obsidian.

In the middle of the courtyard, standing near the lava flow, stood a control panel. Pressing her hand on it, Samus awaited the results. The large dome began to shake and rise as the ground crumbled away to reveal more lava. The structure continued upward as the lava began to bulge toward the center of the newly formed lava pond.

Emerging from the pool was a familiar face...a gigantic bust of Ridley's head, mouth open and teeth beared.

After the bust had completely surfaced, the lava pool immediately cooled, making it identical to the ground it had already replaced.

Inside the mouth were pods, each roughly Samus' size. Samus began to approach the pods, but they began to undulate before she had taken more than a few steps. 

All six of the pods suddenly burst and out sprung six creatures.

"What the...heck is going on..." asked Samus, "little Crocomires?"

Each of the lifeforms were nearly identical to the former beast. During her last trip to Zebes, he was essentially Ridley's watchdog. She had easily eliminated him by casting him into acid...but she seemed to be a little short on that at the current time.

The creatures rushed at Samus. She began blasting her beams at them, plasma, energy, ice, none of them did anything but slightly move the monsters.

She launched a missile at one. It was knocked to the side for a moment, but quickly righted itself and continued at Samus.

She tried a super missile on another one. The creature sailed though the air and bounced off of the wall, onto its feet. It continued on as well.

Samus ran back and readied herself against the farthest wall.

The Crocomires, knowing they had their prey pinned down, lined up next to each other and opened their mouths. Yellow energy gathered quickly and launched in a massive beam toward Samus. She leapt upward and somersaulted over it, landing beside the sextuplets.

She diverted her power systems and switched to the Chozo beam. She fired a single shot down the line. The shock from the blast threw Samus backward as the beam ripped through the small beasts.

Samus finally reached the ground and skidded, tumbling for several feet until she came to a stop on her stomach. She turned to face her targets...and couldn't find them. What she did find however, was a massive hole burned into the obsidian wall, still dripping with molten rock that hadn't been vaporized in the blast.

"What a shot..." Samus remarked.

Maybe this beam was a little more than she could handle...

If she had not cut off the stream, it would have thrown her though the rock wall and maybe even into a lava pit. She had to learn how to master this weapon, this destructive force. 

Suddenly, a shot zoomed past Samus. She looked toward its origin...the guard tower. All of the fighting had awoken the pirate at the turret.

Shot after shot rained down. The blue-hot plasma streaked past Samus, burning impressions in the air along the way. She dodged and jumped, running toward the tower.

"This is a good enough time as any to learn how to use this thing," Samus said as she stopped and braced her feet and legs.

She held up her arm cannon and pointed it at the turret.

The pirate fired a shot directly at Samus. It streaked toward its target. 

Samus unleashed a burst of the Chozo beam. The blast pushed her feet down into the crumbling surface beneath her as she tried to withstand the force.

The shot engulfed the plasma shot by the turret and continued on. Samus could hear the pirate screech as the Chozo beam contacted the tower. The pure energy seemed to rip the structure apart atom by atom.

Before long, the noise ceased, and there were no remnants of a guard tower to be seen.

Samus calmly walked back toward the building at the back of the courtyard. She had to find a way inside.

She knew ONE way of making one, but if the Chozo were inside, there wouldn't be much of a point in getting in that way.

Walking into the mouth of Ridley's bust, she knocked on the back...hollow. This would have to work for now. 

Samus stepped back and fired a super missile into the mouth. The wall blew open, revealing a passageway into a long hall.

She continued inside and proceeded to the end of the tunnel, which opened up into a large room, tiered downward. At the bottom of the tiers were hundreds of sleeping Chozo.

Samus leapt down to the creatures and stirred them. Before long, all had awoken and were prepared to leave.

Aware that the Chozo would be unable to climb the tiers, Samus gestured for them to stand back. She crouched and braced herself, firing the Chozo beam upward at an angle. The beam cut a trench into the tiers that led all the way to the exit corridor.

Samus hurriedly herded the Chozo up the trench. She waited on all of them to exit before she started up the trench. Then she heard a rumbling sound...

The sound got louder by the second...and sounded like it was behind her... She turned to face the back wall just in time for it to explode into flying stone chunks. 

Samus shielded herself with her arm as the debris flew around her. When the rocks finally stopped falling, she let her arm rest and awaited what would emerge from the enormous cloud of dust. 

Suddenly, a claw shot out and grabbed Samus before she could move. The grip was familiar, nearly crushing.

Her attacker stepped through the dust...an Ultimate.

It roared and pitched Samus. She hit the flat part of one of the tiers, skipping off of it and landing against the back wall.

She could hardly stand after the impact. Crumbles from her collision point with the wall fell and bounced like hailstones on the ground.

The Ultimate began stepping up the tiers to reach Samus again.

She righted herself and beheld her assailant. This was her chance. She pressed her back against the wall in a seated position and aimed her arm cannon.

The large claw once again reached for Samus...closer...closer...closer...until the shadow engulfed Samus... 

Then she released the blast from the Chozo beam...

The Ultimate felt the force of the blast and attempted to hold it at bay with its palm.

Samus continued to fire at the hulk...

The arm began to shudder as the stream of superheated energy began to slip around the Ultimate's claw and overpower it.

Samus felt the wall cracking behind her and the pressure on her back and shoulders, but for her life, she continued to fire the Chozo beam... 

Finally, the powerful shot threw the Ultimate's arm upward and allowed the beam to connect with its chest. The beast immediately flew backward against the back wall. It roared and screeched in pain as the energy slowly tore it apart, particle by particle. A purple aura started to outline the Ultimate until it fell silent.

The aura lit the room in a white-purple hue as the remains of the Ultimate dissipated into nothingness.

Samus cut off the beam as she sat in slightly lingering consciousness. Her vision began to fade.

She heard a noise to her left, she leaned to look and turned her head, but soon fell victim to fatigue and passed out.   
---------------------

A few Chozo entered the room, returning because of the commotion. They approached Samus' limp body and lifted her up. They carried her down the hallway and back into the courtyard, where all of the other Chozo had gathered.

The Chozo had been liberated...


	15. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14: LETTING GO...

Hunter Log 3850  
I felt like I had been hit by an emerald class star cruiser.

The Chozo have taken me back to their dwellings. While here, I've partaken in their ceremonies and embraced their culture. What else could I do? They were responsible for most of my upbringing.

They have thanked me over and over, and have allowed for my complete recovery. The best I can remember, they carried me here after the battle with the Ultimate...two weeks ago.

My best estimate is that my shoulder was dislocated and broken, as were my hand, wrist, and elbow on the arm I used the cannon with...the scars were a tell-tale sign. A few of my ribs had been cracked, which the Chozo healed quite quickly with their techniques.

My power suit was ruined after the battle. The entire back of the suit had shattered and the shoulder guards had broken off. Luckily, the Chozo fashioned another, more improved suit virtually in minutes.

It is constructed completely of a sterling chrome substance. When I don the suit, it actually feels like nothing, if anything, I feel lighter than my normal body weight.

Over the past few days, I've trained with the suit on, partially for physical therapy, and the other part for becoming acclimated to the suit itself.

All of it had been to prepare for this day. The day I return to my mission...

Samus out...  
Samus met with the Chozo chief and informed him of her departure. He insisted that she take two particular Chozo with her to take care of a problem.

Accompanied by the avians, she boarded another elevator. The Chozo powered it up and started down the shaft.

This elevator went much farther down than the other ones had.

After five minutes, the descent was over, and the trio exited. A massive door now stood in front of them. It looked to be sealed tight, and had a massive lens in which blue iridescence flickered and illuminated random spots in the room. It was almost like being underwater, except this blue was anything but clear. Samus approached the door and placed a hand on the lens. 

"This is very familiar...could it be? Phazon! How did they get it here?" Samus reacted.

She knew that she couldn't blast the door. The response from the phazon deposit would be a cataclysmic explosion that could destroy the entire planet fragment. She had to find a way in.

Samus began to search the wall. There were no imperfections, no fused edges of metal, nothing aside from the door itself.

After checking the wall, Samus resigned to defeat and simply stared at the phazon filled lens. 

From behind her, one of the Chozo placed its hand on her shoulder and pulled her aside. She merely watched as the giant bird approached the lens and stopped in front of it. It turned and shot a glance at Samus.

In an instant, the Chozo's visage revealed its intentions.

In her mind, Samus sharply objected, but she also knew that the creature was more than willing to sacrifice itself for her cause. She believed that the chief had also sent these two particular Chozo for certain ends, and this was probably one of them. 

The Chozo raised a hand, bearing an incredibly sharp looking instrument. It struck the lens with force, causing a few chips to break off.

It kept hammering away, chipping away, bit by bit. Finally, the phazon began to leak out.

The valiant Chozo lowered to its knees and opened its mouth, letting the radioactive substance enter its body. After only seconds, the Chozo began to gurgle and shudder. Without looking, it reached back toward its companion, who rushed to its aid.

Instead of removing the Chozo from the deadly flow, the companion held the first upright so it could continue to consume the phazon.

After several minutes, most of the substance had leaked out of the lens. Samus looked and noticed a noble scene.

The first Chozo clutched the hand of the second tightly. As the last drop of the phazon fell from the lens and into the mouth of the avian, the grip released and its eyes glazed over.

After a moment of grieving, the second Chozo lifted the first and carried it onto the lift in lamentation. Samus activated the lift and raised her hand to acknowledge the incredibly selfless deed she had witnessed. The Chozo responded by merely bowing its head and tucking it to the side.

The way was clear...and she was alone again...

This was a different sense of being alone than before. Samus literally felt like there was no one around. Nothing around. Nothing dead, nothing living, nothing in-between. She was completely and utterly alone.

That might have been okay before, but not now, not at this moment. Ever since she fought the young girl hunter, she dreaded being alone. The event kept replaying itself in her head. Every time, it was followed by visions of the Ultimates and of the mutated men in the capsules. All of the pain. All of the tragedy...did she cause this?

She didn't have time for thinking right now...she had to see what was inside this room.

Samus took aim at the door and readied her Chozo beam. She aimed eye level at the lens and blasted away until she no longer felt resistance. When she cut off the shot, there was a hole just large enough for her to squeeze through to the other side. 

After she went through the hole, she beheld one of the most incredible machines she had ever seen.

It looked like a large pinball with the end cut off. All around the flat end was glass, but there was no telling how thick it was.

She surveyed the room. The walls were as solid as any she had seen. In each corner of the room stood a control panel, each with four levers. Next to the large pinball structure was another panel.

Samus approached the one in the middle and placed her hand on it. A tone sounded, then a rumble shook the room. A large door reinforcement fell from the ceiling and sealed Samus' hole she had blasted. So much for an exit. 

Suddenly, there was a massive movement of the whole room that knocked Samus off of her feet. She gathered herself and looked at the console she had pressed. It showed a larger dot moving toward a smaller dot. She looked out the window and noticed the tether for the large beams getting closer. The planet fragment was moving toward the center.

Samus gathered a thought and began flipping the levers on the corner panels.

After she flipped the final switch on the final panel, the room shuddered, and then Samus felt a sharp acceleration. She looked at the display in the middle once again.

The large dot had stopped moving and in its stead, a tiny dot now moved toward the dot in the middle.

Samus had disconnected the planet fragment from its anchor...and now proceeded to the center alone.

She assumed what would lay in the middle section...Tourian.


	16. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15: APOCALYPSE

Hunter Log 3851  
Now it's time for me to get serious. I have nothing standing in my way of completing my objective. The rogue hunters are on the fragment I left behind, so there will be no immediate support coming from there should Tourian call for it. I'm assuming that the Chozo can handle themselves in the meantime.

This looks like it might be the end of the journey. Luckily, my comm link to my ship hasn't been damaged since I've been here. The channel is still open and waiting for a command. If this is anything like last time, I'll definitely need it.

Samus out...  
Samus noticed a slowing of the chamber as it neared the center.

Out the window, she saw a circular panel beginning to retract and open to welcome the vessel. 

Before long, the chamber came to a halt and gas could be heard escaping from various locking mechanisms. The large pinball structure shuddered and moved forward, taking the glass with it. 

The entire structure stopped and then sunk into a prefitted slot in the floor. The way was clear.

Samus proceeded down the rather expansive hallway. It was dark, eerily dark. The only light projected was from small conduits on the walls, but the mixed blue and red colors were not strong enough to permeate the dominant black.

Suddenly a bright burst of light filled the corridor, causing Samus to shield her eyes with her forearm. She waited as her eyes adjusted and then looked at the source. A high wattage flood light was mounted above a door nearly three feet in front of her. It must have had a motion sensor.

Fighting off the multicolored flashes that remained in her eyes, Samus opened the door. Not to her surprise, the next room was pitch black. Nothing could be seen inside...which is nothing she hadn't encountered before.

When she entered the room, the door sealed quickly behind her. Wearily, she walked forward.

After a few steps she tripped over something that must have been a massive cord or cable. She caught herself and kept from falling, then turned around. Two large orange shapes stared her down...familiar shapes...

Samus began charging her Chozo beam, but as she did, she noticed that it illuminated the room. Nearly stumbling to the ground, Samus recoiled. A giant likeness of Ridley stood in the middle of the room. The gems used for eyes were ablaze with radiance. There was no sign of any other statue in the room...unlike last time.

Using the light from her beam, she scanned the room. Another door stood to her left. 

Seemingly in response to her look, the door flung itself open.

"Ah, what the heck. I guess chivalry isn't totally dead...unless you count the ghost that opened that door..." Samus thought as she resigned to go through.

She tried to be lighthearted at times, mostly in denial of the true depression that so often dominated her thoughts. It was about as effective this time as any other time. In other words, she was still depressed. 

Regardless, she proceeded through the door and entered a chamber that had glowing conduits running along the floors and up the walls to the ceiling. All of them branched off of a hemispherical structure in the middle of the room. A figure stood next to the hemisphere.

"I suppose you expected to find the Mother Brain back from the dead?" said the figure.

"Well, no, I really expected to find a rave with all of the glowing lights, honestly, I'm disappointed." remarked Samus pithily.

"Still a sense of humor, I see. That's usually a cover-up for fear," the figure shot back.

"Hardly...do I know you?" Samus inquired.

"At one time...but you might not recognize me now," replied the figure.

"Malachi?" 

"I'm impressed, you're quite good. Everything I trained you to be," said Malachi.

"How...why...Are you behind all this?" Samus could hardly get the words past her lips.

"All of this? Do you mean the reconstruction of Zebes? Do you mean the re-engineering of the space pirates? Or do you mean the experimentation between the Chozo and humans? You couldn't possibly mean the 'rebellion' of the hunters, could you?" Malachi responded.

"How could you...why, Malachi?" Samus uttered.

"I guess I owe you the entire story. It all started during your training at the military academy. You were much more adept at fighting than the other trainees. You were undisciplined, yet your skills still exceeded those of the most decorated solider. Your strength and speed grew exponentially with each training session. I never told you, but your talent exceeded even my normal potential after our tenth session. Even when I introduced a new skill to you, you did it better than I could on your first try. I was jealous of you. Then when the academy refused to place you into the military, you left to become a bounty hunter. That made me even more jealous. You not only were better than I was at my best skill, you now enjoyed freedom that I had never been allowed to have. Hearing of all of your successes made me sick. I had to have a taste of the freedom you enjoyed. I was dishonorably discharged from my post as a military trainer after I put one of my trainees into a coma. I left the Academy and pursued my own interests. Unbeknownst to the Confederation, I was enlisted in the services of the space pirates. I trained under them, learning their technology and fighting styles, and in turn, I trained them in our way of fighting and shared our technology. I knew I'd be treated as a traitor if the Academy became aware of my status, so I entered the Delta Hunter Combine. I was a good bounty hunter, in the upper echelon of the Delta Combine, but my small accomplishments still paled in comparison to yours. There wasn't a single hunter that hadn't already learned of your actions on SR-388 and all of the other missions you had completed. I used my earnings from the Combine to help the pirates reinforce their base on Zebes. This...is the result." explained Malachi.

"This was all about me? Your jealousy? You would put all of the planets, all of the stations, all of the people in the Confederation in danger, just to get at me?" Samus probed.

"You must admit, I did quite a good job. You tried to blow up the planet, but I still managed to keep things together, you might say. It's time to reform Zebes, Samus. I'm glad you could join me," said Malachi glibly.

"Over my dead body..." Samus said as she began to approach the man.

"Spoken like a true fighter. I suppose I've prepared well enough for this fight. It'll be your last, Samus. Say goodbye," replied Malachi, with an almost childlike glee in his voice.

He removed a vest he was wearing and tossed it on the floor. In the middle of his chest was a glowing purple orb...a micropulse orb...Chozo energy. Malachi had embedded the energy source into his sternum with some harness device that snaked around his neck and torso. He extended his arms outward as energy pulsed from the orb. Small bolts of lighting shot out as Malachi began to yell. Piece by piece, armor flew from the walls and melded to his body. First and arm guard, then leg armor and shoulder guards, then the rest, including a chest plate that had an opening for the micropulse orb.

Malachi then placed his hand on the hemispherical console. A display flickered to life on the wall showing three large objects moving toward a smaller object in the center. It was like the display in the first chamber. He was reassembling the planet.

He smiled briefly, then charged toward Samus. Samus did likewise.

Malachi swung downward with one arm in a clubbing motion. Samus raised an arm to block. The sheer force of the blow knocked her down to one knee. He was insanely powerful. Samus swung forward with her other arm and connected with his midsection. He flinched, but showed no sign of pain. In response, he threw a leg forward, kicking Samus in the chest plate.

She flew over in a back flip and landed on her feet. This new Chozo armor was incredible. She didn't feel any pain, but she did feel pressure from the impact. This would be a difficult battle.

Malachi extended his hand toward Samus as energy began to pulse and gather around his forearm. Suddenly, a bolt shot from his hand and connected with Samus. She writhed in pain as the energy lifted her off the ground. He thrusted his hand forward and Samus flew into the wall. 

"You can't expect to beat me now, Samus. I have more power than you can dream of. I'm invincible!" exclaimed Malachi. 

"Invincible this..." Samus replied as she raised her arm cannon with the Chozo beam engaged.

She unleashed the blast and it connected with Malachi. She heard him screaming over the sound of the beam. She felt intense resistance, but she maintained her shot. His yell, first, grew louder, then faded as the resistance lessened. Then the beam blasted free as it picked his body up and carried it to the opposite end of the room. She released the blast when she heard his body smash against the wall.

Samus got up and began to walk toward Malachi. On her way, she picked up one of his spiked forearm guards.

As she approached him, he was still lying against the wall.

"You always seem to have the upper hand..." muttered Malachi.

"Take it how you will. I think you left this back there," said Samus.

"Help me up, will you?" asked Malachi.

He grabbed her arm cannon as he struck with his other arm, charged with energy. Quickly, Samus swung downward with the spiked arm guard, slamming it into the micropulse orb and stopping his strike in mid-swing.

"N-no! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" shrieked Malachi.

He began to convulse as the room filled with purple light. Energy began escaping from the marble-size orb. All of the sudden, there was a loud pop as the arm guard flew out of the object. Things that looked like spirits began escaping one by one, filling the air with a chill.

One of the apparitions slowed by Samus' face.

"The Chozo...you're free..." Samus said.

The spirit remained by Samus. She looked down and noticed that it had its hands near her arm cannon. 

"You want these free, too. You've loaned me your strength for long enough. Thank you," said Samus, solemnly. 

She removed her micropulse orb from her cannon and dropped it on the floor. The spirit changed colors to red and seemingly entered the marble. It shook for a second, then shattered in a marvelous pyrotechnic flash. More of the ghosts filled the room. They swirled around the top of the room above Samus, then one by one, dove and passed through her.

The sensations were not painful, but they were invigorating. With each spirit that passed through her, she coursed with more energy, more power. She also could hear the Chozo speaking to her. They would join her for one final battle, one that would dwarf the others...the Apocalypse.

Before long, the ghosts swirled faster and finally dissipated through the ceiling. 

Samus looked at her arm cannon. It now pulsed with green energy. She looked on her LCD and it showed a new selection: Spirit Blast.

She turned as she heard thick coughs from behind her. 

"Well I guess it was meant to be this way...you winning and me losing..." Malachi stated.

"You're on the wrong side, Malachi. You did things for the wrong reasons," explained Samus.

"Heh...cough...and to think I told that to so many in the past...I guess that makes me a hypocrite..." forced Malachi.

"Everyone makes mistakes. It's never too late to change." Samus said, almost with hope. 

"It...cough...it is this time...cough...go, Samus...cough...be what I couldn't be..." Malachi muttered as his eyes rolled back and his last breath escaped his lips.

A massive tremor shook the entire room.

Samus shot a look at the display...all of the remaining fragments had connected, save the one she released. The planet was nearly complete.

The stage had been set. It was time.


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16: THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

Hunter Log 3852  
I couldn't stop Malachi from reassembling the remaining pieces of the planet. Now I'm incredibly outnumbered. Instead of the limited resources of each planet fragment, 75 of the total power of the planet has been restored. That includes all of the fighting forces from each fragment. Due to my taking the path of least resistance, so to say, that leaves a lot of adversaries, willing AND otherwise.

I assume that the pirate and hunter forces are gathering on the surface. I would be no match for such an army. I do however, know how to get some help.

I hope I don't regret this.

Samus out...

Samus exited the control room and passed through the statuary. She then stood in the familiar tether room.

She entered the small room and flipped a switch. The large pinball structure rose from the floor and slid back to seal the room shut. Then the room lurched as a sign of movement.

Going back was really the only option. She couldn't fight the pirates and hunters without the help of the Chozo. She hated to ask, especially since they wished to be separated from the whole conflict. Surely they were yearning for retribution.

This trip from Tourian to the planet fragment was much more abbreviated than the last. When the room finally shook and stopped movement, Samus engaged all of the locks to hold it in place. The large back plate disengaged and rose into the ceiling, once again exposing the hole Samus had used for her entrance.

She climbed through the hole and called for the bridge. While she was waiting, the re-entered the room and began to retract the grappling beam.

In order to finish her mission, she had to complete the planet and meet the enemy face to face. 

Samus left the room and boarded the elevator. While it had taken several minutes on the trip down, it only took a few moments traveling upward. When it came to a stop, Samus felt her feet briefly leave the ground.

The sound of the lift had gathered the attention of the Chozo, who had already congregated around it, the chief at the front.

"I need your help once again...one final time. It has to end now," Samus pleaded.

The chief nodded as he turned to his tribe, then raised his hand into the air. 

The crowd responded by raising their hands and yelling a passionate call to war.  
------------------  
Samus knew where the final confrontation would occur. It had already been determined. It was the valley she had seen from the escape deck of the wrecked ship. An expansive stretch of land situated between two mountain ranges. The valley seemed to go on for miles. There would be no place to run or hide. An all out battle...for peace, for those who died, for victory...  
------------------  
Samus and the Chozo chief took the lead and marched toward the far side of the hidden utopia. On the way, the avian creatures armed themselves.

Each warrior selected a long staff and an ornate helmet. On the ends, each staff had a green stone mounted into the metal. It was seemingly a way to charge power through the staff itself. The helmets seemed to be more of a ceremonial adornment with gold and silver accents. 

After all of the fighters had taken up arms, the chief led them all to a room very familiar to Samus. It was the way back to the laboratory and the ship. When the planet was still in fragments, it was an energy bridge terminal. The trip would now be much shorter. 

The army continued through the passageways and chambers. The Chozo marveled at the room with the dead Ultimates. They spent several minutes surveying the corpses. Only one dead body mattered to Samus, however. The body of the young girl. No one had retrieved it. It lay, paled and lifeless against the wall. Her eyes in a never-ending gaze. The sight was enough to chill even the coldest hunter to his bones. It didn't chill Samus, though. It tore her apart inside.

She had thought about this extensively. The voice of the president echoing through her head. Acceptable losses. There was no such thing to Samus. Every life had the potential to be saved...or so she had thought. Throughout her journey after returning to Zebes, she had been forced to learn that many things were out of her control and some lives could not be saved or spared. Things happened that couldn't be stopped and people did what they were told to do first. It took her a long time, but Samus had finally come to terms with lessons like these. It was a good time to do so, being on the verge of an all out war.

The chief placed his hand on Samus' shoulder, snapping her back to reality, as if she wasn't already there in thought. They proceeded out of the room and down the long hallway. When they opened the door at the end, the sight nearly floored Samus.

In the giant dome room, there was no longer a massive pile of corpses frozen in time, but a host of fierce Chozo ready for battle.

When Samus had destroyed the micropulse orbs, the spirits of the Chozo were released. Evidently they returned to their bodies, seeking vengeance against those who had imprisoned them. The chief entered the room and raised his hands in praise. The revived creatures returned the gesture.

They got down to business quickly as the chief explained the plans to the newly acquired warriors. They were willing to go into battle as is, with no weaponry. They would fight until their dying breath.

The former prisoners led Samus and the chief to a hole that had been busted out of the far side of the dome. The tunnel inside led into the downward passageway inside the wrecked ship. The passageway still flickered with broken circuits.

Samus and her entourage passed through the tunnel and opened the door, emerging in the massive main reactor room. The metroids cooed and floated toward Samus.

Seeing the approaching metroids, the Chozo brought their arms to the front and aimed them at the creatures.

The metroids halted and pulsed as Samus threw her arm back and warded the Chozo back. The chief called for them to lower their weapons. 

Metroid after metroid approached Samus and nudged against her like pets. After a while, the metroids dispersed and returned to their nests. Samus, then, motioned for the Chozo to follow her upward.

The avians were still uneasy and displayed little trust for the metroids despite Samus. As they proceeded, many gripped their weapons a little more tightly than before.

Samus led them to the very top of the escape deck. From the shattered windows, she could once again see the great valley. This time, it wasn't serene farmland. All of the animals were gone. Only remnants of the fence and house lay in piles, symbols of the ruin that would settle in on the landscape.

They continued on through the window and onto a peak worn flat by the crashed frigate. Multitudes of Chozo followed Samus out of the ship and into the slopes of the blue mountain range.

Samus looked across the plain as she was descending. The enemy was already gathering. Ultimates could be seen at the front line, accompanied by elite pirates and hunters. The force was massive.

After several minutes, the entire Chozo force had reached the bottom of the range and formed ranks. Samus climbed up on part of a cliff and surveyed the scene. She had about 8,000 Chozo warriors. From her best estimate, the enemy had over 10,000. An uphill battle...but she had faced that before.

A dark figure emerged from over the opposite range. It descended and landed in front of the evil force...Ridley. The commander-in-chief. He opened his wings and let forth a shrill roar. The evil forces echoed his call.

The Chozo chief, who had made his way to the front of the ranks, raised his hand into the air again and yelled in an almost human tone, and the rest of his people returned his beckon. 

After the two rally cries, the plain fell numb. The air was still and the clouds seemed to stall in the sky. The blades of grass even fell flat as if bowing to the incredible power that had gathered in the valley.

A bolt shot through the silence and pierced the head of one of the Chozo. It fell to its knees and collapsed face first into the ground. The thump sounded like a massive war drum, and the rest of the avians treated it as such.

They stormed forward, yelling as loud as they could with their staves and spears in hand.

The evil forces responded by charging forward.

The cacophony dominated the environment. The massive stampede would have registered on the Richter scale.

Before the forces met, Ridley took flight and soared over the Chozo ranks. They opened fire with their energy poles, the green stripes ripping through the air. In a flurry of spins and twirls, Ridley managed to dodge each of the beams. He dropped two meson bombs and unleashed a plume of fire from his mouth. The bombs connected with the ground and detonated, incinerating Chozo and throwing others several feet away. The fire ignited others and caused them to run in a careless charge to the front of the lines. Ridley was headed directly for Samus.

The Chozo ignored the flying terror and headed for the other line.

The two forces finally collided in the center of the valley like two waves clashing into each other.

Bodies immediately began flying. Ultimates swiped with their massive claws, throwing Chozo to and fro. Chozo swung with their staves, batting pirates into the air. Hunters blasted into the thick crowd, sure to hit any target.

An ultimate fired its massive cannon, but it dissipated in the crowd of Chozo, energizing them with the spirits of their sacrificed comrades. Chozo immediately overtook the foolish behemoth and ripped it to shreds.

The hunters began forming assault groups and mowing through the broken Chozo ranks. They were more skilled and much more agile than the pirates and Ultimates.

Behind the fierce melee, Ridley had reached Samus. He landed in front of the small cliff she was on, and she somersaulted down to his level. Just as good and evil met on this field, storied rivals now met. Each showed a mutual respect for the other's abilities...as well as an intense hatred that burned like the hottest plasma.

Samus began circling Ridley, and he kept a watch on her. It was like a game hunter stalking a lion. The lion was the stronger of the two, yet the hunter had the right equipment to dispatch the wild beast.

Ridley struck at Samus, but she jumped to the side, avoiding the gnashing teeth. His quick tail however, caught Samus in the side, knocking her down. Ridley tried to take advantage by raising his foot to step on her. His mistake was bearing his chest. Samus unleashed the spirit blast. Ridley shrieked as the beam burned through his hide and boiled it. He slyly rolled off of the beam and clutched his chest with his large claw as he breathed desperate breaths glancing at Samus.

She pulled herself off of the ground and began walking toward the beast. When she approached the injured pirate, she once again watched the wrong thing. His tail whipped through the air and knocked Samus airborne. Ridley followed up by hurling two meson bombs at Samus. The first one connected with her back and knocked her out of the air. The second bomb whizzed by. Propelled by incredible force, it kept going. 

Samus belly flopped on the ground with a small bounce. The bomb had melted away her Chozo armor in one section. Her burn proof undersuit was unburned, but her skin had boiled to blisters underneath, the bumpy texture showing through.

Samus tried to lift herself. She managed to straighten her arms, but the pain consumed her. It felt like she was engulfed in fire. The meson bombs also contained a nerve toxin. She must have absorbed the residue after the heat had melted her suit.

Instead of flopping back on her stomach, she managed to fall onto her side and look at her predator. Ridley still clutched his chest, strips of charred skin hanging from between his digits. He now stood over her.

She could see his breath...even smell it.

He tried to sense her fear...he found none.

Ridley raised his free arm to administer the death strike, but a noise paused him.

A massive explosion was heard in the distance. Samus turned her head to see.

Smoke was rising from the side of the wrecked ship. Some black, some a strange grey color. After a minute of scrutiny, the grey smoke seemed to be moving toward the valley instead of rising into the air. Samus would continue to watch, but a gut feeling told her otherwise. She turned back toward Ridley.

He had changed his focus back to Samus as well. He smiled with his saurian teeth. Samus could nearly feel his sadistic glee. He once again raised his claw.

As soon as he began his downswing, Samus closed her eyes and raised her arm.

Then she felt a rush...

... 

...but no pain...

She opened her eyes, fully expecting to see an omniscient deity telling her that she was dead, but that wasn't exactly the case.

Ridley had a metroid attached to his arm. He was swinging it wildly, trying to remove the creature. As he raised his claw to strike it, another metroid latched onto his other claw. The dactylian shrieked in terror and pain as he was rendered helpless by the energy sapping creatures. One after another, the metroids locked onto Ridley. At first, he fiercely fought them, but the injured pirate lost his energy quickly. Soon, he shrunk to the ground, then crumbled into a pile of dust. 

The metroids cooed and floated around Samus.

She rolled to her other side and gazed upon the field of battle. The metroids had attacked the pirates and ultimates. Piles of dust were blowing away in the wind as the metroids floated above the now quiet battlefield.

Samus gathered her strength and forced herself to get up. She made her way slowly to a very still mass of Chozo. They had surrounded a group of hunters.

Inside the circle were four hunters standing back to back, prepped for conflict.

One by one, the Chozo turned and acknowledged Samus, allowing her to enter the ring.

When the hunters saw her, they stood up straight and faced her.

"Samus Aran?" one of them asked.

"I am Samus," she responded.

"Samus, we were ordered to dispatch you. I assure you the rewards are high," the hunter said.

"I'm sure you are, but as you can see, I'm in no shape to fight, of course, neither are you," Samus said.

"Well, ma'am. You can't very well get paid if you're dead," the hunter replied.

"So that means..." Samus started.

"By your leave, ma'am. We'll be on our way back to the combine," stated the hunter. 

"Oh, by all means. And hunter..." Samus remarked. 

"Ma'am?"

"Don't screw up again. I'll get better," Samus said as she removed her helmet, glancing directly into the facemask of the hunter.

"Understood," acknowledged the hunter as he and his troupe filed through the Chozo and disappeared into the mountains.

Samus looked around bodies of fallen Chozo, hunters, pirates, and ultimates seemed to line the valley. The mountains had acted like the sides of a bowl, containing the bloodshed in a trough, not allowing the destruction to flood over into the rest of the planet.

The Chozo chief and his remaining warriors celebrated in triumph.

The mission was complete. The threat had been eliminated.


End file.
